Australia captain Pat Cummins led his team to a narrow two-wicket win over Pakistan in the first ODI at the MCG on Monday (Nov 4). Cummins, who returned to the Australian colours for the first time since the T20 World Cup in the Americas, picked two wickets and scored an unbeaten 32 to guide his team over the winning line.
Asked to bat first at the ‘G’, Pakistan lost both openers to Mitchell Starc, with the premier seamer removing Saim Ayub first, bowled on just one. Abdullah Shafique departed soon after, with Babar Azam and newly-appointed white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan steadying the ship with a 39-run stand.
Adam Zampa removed Babar on 37 before Cummins bagged Kamran Ghulam’s wicket on just five to put Pakistan’s back against the wall. Rizwan held one end but failed to get his team past a fighting total.
Handy contributions from the tail, including gritty 20s from debutant Irfan Khan (22) and Shaheen Afridi (24) and a brilliant run-a-ball 40 from returning Naseem Shah, helped Pakistan cross the 200-run-mark but got all out soon after.
Australia won, somehow
Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk’s opening stand was short-lived as Pakistan quicks Shaheen and Naseem were back among the wickets inside the first ten overs. The middle-order duo of Steve Smith and keeper-batter Josh Inglis added 85 runs for the third wicket, helping Australia sit comfortably in the run-chase; however, four quick wickets in the next four overs brought Pakistan back into the game.
Rauf, a T20 specialist, made inroads with three wickets, including removing Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell on a first-ball duck.
Though all-rounders Aaron Hardie and Sean Abbott did their bit to avoid embarrassment in Australia’s first home game of the summer, they departed soon after, putting pressure back on the hosts.
Cummins joined the party and, for the nth time in his career, made handy contribution with the bat at the end to see his team home. Alongside his bowling partner Starc, Cummins scored 32* to win the match for Australia with two wickets remaining.
Australia leads the three-match ODI series 1-0, with Adelaide scheduled to host the second game on Sunday (Nov. 8).