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Report - 2nd ODI : Pakistan seal six-wicket win at Melbourne after a superb bowling performance

Abdullah719

T20I Captain
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Runs
44,825
Toss: Australia won the toss and chose to bat.

Teams:

Australia: DA Warner, UT Khawaja, SPD Smith (c), TM Head, MR Marsh, GJ Maxwell, MS Wade, JP Faulkner, PJ Cummins, MA Starc, JR Hazlewood.

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan.

Australia Innings

Smith won the toss once again and opted to bat first with both teams making a few changes. Amir opened the bowling with the returning Junaid who was making a comeback after over a year and a half outside the ODI team. The two bowlers combined to bowl a few tight overs upfront and Junaid struck in his third over, getting Warner after a testing over as the opener edged one behind, dismissed for 16. The pacer struck again in his next over, getting Khawaja as he tried to play one to third man but only succeeded in hitting it towards first slip, where Sharjeel took a superb catch. Next over, Amir made the breakthrough as Marsh drived one uppishly, straight to Imad at cover. Smith and Head put on a partnership with the latter once again putting the bowlers to the sword whenever they erred in length. Hasan brought an end to his innings as he tried to drive one too many throught the covers and edged it behind after making 29. Smith continued on but was circumspect while Maxwell took the attack to the bowlers in his usual fashion.

Maxwell didn't survive long however, as he came down the pitch and missed the ball from Imad, bowled for 23. Wade once again got going with Smith but the run-rate was kept under control by the Pakistan bowlers despite Hafeez's attacking fields as the bowlers bowled according to the plans. The bowling changes kept coming as Hafeez tried to devise a method to end the partnership as it surpassed fifty. Into the last ten overs, the batsmen started attacking a bit and that gave Pakistan a chance. Imad was the one who got Smith after he reached a pain-staking fifty, as he chopped one onto his stumps. Malik got Wade in the next over to derail Australia's final push and two overs later, Junaid ran out Starc after a good bit of fielding off his own bowling. He should have had Cummins' wicket but the umpire didn't detect the healthy edge - however, the batsman was caught behind in the next over after a sharp Amir bouncer. The innings was wrapped up via another short delivery to Faulkner by Amir and the ball looped up for an easy catch as the hosts were bowled out for 220.

Fall Of Wickets

1-31 (Warner, 5.5 ov)
2-40 (Khawaja, 7.6 ov)
3-41 (Marsh, 8.5 ov)
4-86 (Head, 17.2 ov)
5-128 (Maxwell, 26.2 ov)
6-193 (Smith, 42.3 ov)
7-199 (Wade, 43.4 ov)
8-207 (Starc, 45.4 ov)
9-212 (Cummins, 46.5 ov)
10-220 (Faulkner, 48.2 ov)

Pakistan Innings

Pakistan's chase began with a new opening pair and Mohammad Hafeez should've been out in the first over as he drove at one from Starc - but Smith grassed the chance. The Pakistan captain was circumspect, playing the role Azhar normally plays in the lineup and looking to tie down an end for the first few overs. Sharjeel in the meantime went for his shots, getting a few fours away every now and then. The batsmen played out the first 10 overs without many incidents and then Hafeez started going after the bowlers a bit more, ensuring that part-timer Head specially couldn't settle down as he was taken off after one over. The partnership reached fifty but in the 15th over, Sharjeel was the first man to fall for the visitors as he tried to run the ball down to third man off Faulkner but nicked it behind for a catch for 29. Babar played one sumptious straight drive but he played a slew of dot balls as well as the two batsmen tried to form another partnership. Hafeez brought up his fifty with a superb flick over square-leg as he drove Pakistan's chase.

Hafeez gave Cummins a chance soon thereafter in the field with a lofted shot but the bowler could only get a hand to it. Babar soon fell after making 34 as he tried to ramp one over third man but the fielder at the boundary took the catch just inside the boundary. Hafeez fell in the next over as he tried to loft Faulkner but was caught after making 72 off 104 balls. Malik was given out caught behind early in his innings but reviewed the decision - it was overturned as he didn't hit it. The veteran batsman then began guiding the chase with regular boundaries despite Shafiq's struggles at the other end. Shafiq's poor knock finally came to an end as he went after a wide one from Starc and was caught behind for 13 off 29 balls. Umar came out firing and together with Malik, guided Pakistan to a comprehensive six-wicket win with 14 balls to spare.

Fall Of Wickets

1-68 (Sharjeel Khan, 14.3 ov)
2-140 (Babar Azam, 30.3 ov)
3-142 (Mohammad Hafeez, 31.5 ov)
4-195 (Asad Shafiq, 42.5 ov)

Match Summary:

A superb win for Pakistan, set up by an excellent bowling performance and some aggressive captaincy by Hafeez who ensured Australia were never given an easy passage to run away with the game. The opening bowlers were excellent with their first spells while the likes of Imad bowled according to the plans as the runs were kept down despite frequent aggressive fields. In the chase, Hafeez almost gave it away in the first over but capitalised on the dropped catch to play a good knock while Malik kept his cool with the pressure building to finish the game for Pakistan. A win for the visitors after a long time in Australia, and one that is invaluable considering the ODI rankings and the fight for the 2019 World Cup qualification.
 
Excellent captaincy from Hafeez. Really was on top of his game. Never let up the pressure. He had very specific plans for every batsman and executed them.
 
Very good win. Knew Hafeez would be a good captain
 
Well played Pak a very clinical win, hats off to the two old horses, hafeez and Malik.

return of Junaid and partnering Amir made a big difference 5 wickets between them.
 
Brilliant victory and the change in captaincy was the major factor that led to this win. Hafeez was superb and the bowlers executed beautifully.
 
very nice to see aggressive captaincy going past the first 10 overs when you are forced to be one
 
Brilliantly done by Pakistan team. Series is very much alive.
People predicting whitewash must keep faith in their team .
 
Brilliant performance. Change of captaincy and bowling attack played a major role in our win. Attaking brand of cricket is what we thrive in. We must continue the same style of aggressive cricket.
 
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Next match Azhar will be the captain and we will loose that match
 
Superb victory. Credit to Hafeez's excellent captaincy aswell as the bowling. Restricting Australia to under 300 and then under 250 in two games is a heck of an effort. This is the same Australian team that was hitting teams like India and New Zealand for 300 plus nearly every game when they toured.
 
While people will inevitably use this victory to do the usual Azhar bashing, it's worth noting that Hafeez and the management had the benefit of hindsight to see that they should bowl spinners well in the last overs after what happened in the first match.
 
Really surprised to see us winning after loosing for a long time. Batting still a weak point. If Hafeez lead us like this I don't mind him as captain. Azhar, Shafiq, Rahat, Nawaz, Wahab, Rizwan have to go
 
While people will inevitably use this victory to do the usual Azhar bashing, it's worth noting that Hafeez and the management had the benefit of hindsight to see that they should bowl spinners well in the last overs after what happened in the first match.

even though u bowl spinners, u need that proactive mindset to keep slips, bring fielders in the ring for the new batsman.. if u pressurize the new batsman it will automatically shift the pressure to the set batsman to score quickly and look for boundaries... with this scenario there is a wicket anytime, if no wicket , there will be no runs too...this part of captaincy is very important in LOIs, which MISBAH, AFRIDI and AZHAR doesnt have and rightly failed.... going for the kill and at the same time getting ur 5th bowlers spell quickly.... it is an art of capataincy bro..
 
even though u bowl spinners, u need that proactive mindset to keep slips, bring fielders in the ring for the new batsman.. if u pressurize the new batsman it will automatically shift the pressure to the set batsman to score quickly and look for boundaries... with this scenario there is a wicket anytime, if no wicket , there will be no runs too...this part of captaincy is very important in LOIs, which MISBAH, AFRIDI and AZHAR doesnt have and rightly failed.... going for the kill and at the same time getting ur 5th bowlers spell quickly.... it is an art of capataincy bro..

Perhaps you need to look at Hafeez's first stint as captain. He was as defensive at the rest. I think this is Arthur's effect - and that's great for Pakistan, if it is.
 
Really surprised to see us winning after loosing for a long time. Batting still a weak point. If Hafeez lead us like this I don't mind him as captain. Azhar, Shafiq, Rahat, Nawaz, Wahab, Rizwan have to go

Classic PP. After a WIN, when stability in a team can only help confidence.- you're dropping 2 players, one of whom just got some valuable experience and played a tough 30 minute knock vs Oz to blunt our attack when our tail was right up (Shafiq) and one of whom never even got to bat! (Rizwan)
 
Not sure where best to post - yesterday i posted scathing comments on our chances of a victory - I don't apologise for those as it is the god given right of every arm chair expert like myself who is useless at playing the game but can point out all the strategic flaws and deficiencies when watching!

I'm pleased the Pak team out-performed the aussies today - I'm pleased to be eating humble pie and look forward to eating more as long as the Pak team perform like this - WIN or LOSE, it's the manner in which it's done that counts! NOTHIG should be held back!!

The aussies will want blood in the remaining games - now are these guys prepared to step up and fight or are they going to offer their necks as qurbani????!!!

Just look at our Indian bros and the fight their batsmen are up for!!! The Bangladeshis are giving the NZers a run for their money!!!
 
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Finally Pakistan played the best available team from the squad. Just need sarfarz in place of rizu & may be Haris or Ahmed in place of Shafiq to cover all areas
 
Azhar is like 90's. Here we have to play Modern Cricket, which Pakistan is not playing. So be positive and play Aggressive cricket. Have a look on India's batting. What they did today.Need to change.Need transformation
 
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this same team would have win the 1st ODI too; keep the same team for 3rd ODI unless Azhar is fit in which case replace Asad with Azhar
 
Congratulations to Pakistan and all the fans.

Just when you start to give up on Pakistan, they come up with a performance like this!!! No wonder the word 'unpredictable' is associated with Pakistan.

I dearly hope Pakistan build on this, it was fantastic to watch Aamer and Junaid bowl in tandem, I hope this is the start of a long and lethal partnership. Pakistan needs more consistency, hope Mickey will do the right things to make this team more consistent.

1-1 then, bring on Perth.
 
this same team would have win the 1st ODI too; keep the same team for 3rd ODI unless Azhar is fit in which case replace Asad with Azhar

Would have had a better chance if we played a batsman instead of Nawaz.

But Shafiq would have been useless anyway, and Malik unfortunately was ill.
 
Would have had a better chance if we played a batsman instead of Nawaz.

But Shafiq would have been useless anyway, and Malik unfortunately was ill.

Still Asad is a lot better batsman than Nawaz and Nawaz should never be played over Asad especially when you have Imad in the team. Though the real difference maker missing from 1st ODI was Malik.
 
It was about time we won one match on this tour. A good bowling performance followed by a great batting one. For our average batsmen to chase against Australia like that is brilliant stuff.
 
Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Glad that ODI jinx in Australia is finally ended but let's not forget that Pakistan only chased down 220. The win was set up by the bowlers.

Our ODI batting is mediocre at best and this might be our only win in this series. This batting would struggle to chase 270+
 
An excellent performance but can they repeat this again?
 
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