Pakistan’s white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan levelled the world record for completing most catches in a men’s ODI innings and became the ninth wicketkeeper to join the exclusive club.
During Pakistan’s ODI victory over the Baggy Greens on Friday, Rizwan completed a whopping six catches to enter the exclusive club at the Adelaide Oval.
Seven Australian players were caught with six falling to Rizwan and one being taken by Babar Azam. Overall, Rizwan became the 12th player to take six catches in a single ODI innings which features the likes of Quinton de Kock, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Jos Buttler, Adam Gilchrist and many more.
In the second ODI, Pakistan also inflicted Australia’s heavies ODI defeat on home turf after the Baggy Greens batted first. Pakistan cruised to a 9-wicket victory with 141 balls to spare which is the biggest defeat that Australia faced on their turf after batting first.
With the win in the second ODI game in Adelaide, the Men in Green have levelled the series against Australia by 1-1. The final ODI match on Sunday will be the decider of the series.
The emphatic 9-wicket success was also etched on the history books as it was Pakistan’s first victory in Adelaide against Australia after 1996.
It seemed easy for Pakistan from the very first moment of the game. Mohammad Rizwan’s side dominated the Aussies with the help of speedster Haris Rauf and opener Saim Ayub.
In the first inning, it was Rauf who delivered a breathtaking spell to bundle out the Aussie batting lineup at 163. During the run chase, Saim Ayub’s knock helped the Men in Green to cruise swiftly towards the target with 23 overs remaining.
Saim Ayub (82 runs from 71 balls, 5 fours and 6 sixes) and Abdullah Shafique (64* runs from 69 balls, 4 fours and 3 sixes) opened for Pakistan and cemented a 137-partnership and made it easy for the visitors to clinch an easy victory.
