Babar Azam’s brilliant half-century (Photo: PTI)
Pakistan vs Australia: Australia’s tour of Pakistan has started with a defeat. In the first ODI played on May 30 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan defeated Australia by 5 wickets. With this, Pakistan has taken a 1-0 lead in the 3 ODI series. Arafat Minhas, who made his ODI debut in Pakistan’s victory, was chosen player of the match. Creating history in this match, he single-handedly defeated half of Australia’s team. Apart from debutant Arafat Minhas, Pakistan’s star batsman Babar Azam, who scored the most runs in the match, also had a big contribution in their victory.
Pakistan defeated Australia in the first ODI
Batting first in the Rawalpindi ODI, Australia had set Pakistan an easy target of scoring 201 runs, which it achieved in 45 balls thanks to Babar Azam’s strong half-century. Pakistan scored 202 runs losing 5 wickets in 42.3 overs and won the match.
Babar Azam played the biggest innings in the match
Babar Azam was not only the top scorer for Pakistan but also the top scorer of this entire match. He scored 69 runs on 94 balls, which included 4 fours and 1 six. Apart from him, wicketkeeper batsman Ghazi Gauri scored 65 runs on 92 balls. Both these batsmen played a big role in helping Pakistan reach the target.
Australia falls in front of Arafat Minhas
In the lower order, debutant Arafat Minhas remained unbeaten on 18 runs in 17 balls, but his real performance was seen with the ball, due to which the Australian team could neither play the full 50 overs nor score more than 200 runs. After losing the toss and electing to bat first, Australia was all out for 200 runs in 44.1 overs. Matthew Short and Matt Renshaw scored half-centuries for Australia. Short scored 55 runs while Renshaw played an inning of 61 runs.
Minhas took 5 wickets on debut, created history
Australian opener Matthew Short, who scored a half-century, was dismissed by Arafat Minhas. Apart from this, he also dismissed Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green and Nathan Ellis and took a total of 5 wickets in the match and created history. He became the first bowler for Pakistan to take 5 wickets on ODI debut. Arafat was chosen Player of the Match for his performance.
Pakistan takes 1-0 lead in the series
Pakistan, which has taken a 1-0 lead in the 3 ODI series, will now enter the second ODI with increased morale. The second ODI is to be played in Lahore on 2 June. The third and last ODI of the series will also be played in Lahore on June 4.
