Pakistan Secures Historic ODI Series Win in Australia After 22 Years
On November 10, Sunday, Pakistan defeated the World Champions Australia in the third and final match of the ODI series and secured the series by 2-1. This win is extremely special for the visiting side, as this is Pakistan’s first ODI series win in Australia in 22 years. Pakistan’s new captain, Mohammad Rizwan, has got a great start to his captaincy journey as his team achieved an amazing series victory.
After winning the toss, Rizwan decided to bowl first, a decision that proved correct for them. Australia lost early wickets of Jake Fraser-McGurk and Aaron Hardie and then soon the stand-in captain Josh Inglis also got out in the 11th over, giving Pakistan a fiery start.
Matthew Short also struggled against Pakistan’s pace attack and was dismissed at just 22, while Cooper Connolly got retired hurt and didn’t return to bat again. Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell also could not score big runs, as the duo got dismissed at 8 and 0, respectively. Sean Abbott and Adam Zampa made a partnership of 30 runs and led Australia to a total of 140 runs. Pakistan’s standout duo of Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah got three wickets each, while Haris Rauf and Muhammad Hasnain got 2 and 1, respectively.
While chasing the target, Pakistan’s openers Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique built a partnership of 84 runs off 104 balls and gave a smooth start to their team. However, two were dismissed in the same over by Lance Morris. Ayub and Shafique scored 42 and 37 runs each.
Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique mixed caution with aggression and added an 84-run partnership off 104 balls for the first wicket to set things up nicely for the tourists. However, both of them wasted their starts as Lance Morris dismissed them in the same over. Ayub made 42, while Shafique departed for 37. Then the duo of Mohammad Rizwan and former captain Babar Azam led Pakistan to the win by eight wickets, with 23.1 overs in hand. Rizwan and Babar were unbeaten on 30 and 28 runs, respectively.