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On Monday, November 4, the Australian cricket team scraped home to a two-wicket win over Pakistan in the first ODI of the three-match series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). In pursuit of a below par target of 204 runs, Australia were in a strong position at one stage before a flurry of wickets from Pakistan bowlers led to captain Pat Cummins scoring an unbeaten 32 at the lower order, to take his team over the finishing line.
For the unversed, after winning the toss, Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, won the toss and elected to field first, and Mitchell Starc dismissed Pakistan openers Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique cheaply in the first power play stage. Mohammad Rizwan (44 off 71) and Babar Azam (37 off 44) uncharacteristically lost their wickets to the spin of Marnus Labuschagne and Adam Zampa after being well set, which pushed the visitors on the backfoot.
At 148/7, Pakistan were looking like folding away relatively quickly until Naseem Shah scored an exceptional 40 off 39 with one four and four maximums, taking down Adam Zampa. His innings helped Pakistan get past 200 runs before being bundled out for 203 runs in 46.4 overs after Mitchell Starc registered figures of 3/33 in his 10-over spell, while bowling three maiden overs.
In the run chase, Australia also lost the wickets of their openers Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk cheaply before Steve Smith and Josh Inglis stitched together 85-run stand for the third wicket in just 75 balls, to put their team in a strong position. But their dismissals in the 40s opened up the game as Haris Rauf picked up two wickets in two balls, including Glenn Maxwell’s golden duck, to suddenly bring Pakistan back into the contest.
Australia were reduced to 185/8 at one stage, needing a further 19 runs with captain Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc at the crease, who used their experience and knowhow of handling a tough situation, to secure a close win for their team. Pat Cummins stayed unbeaten on 32 off 31 with four fours, while Mitchell Starc, who stayed with him at the crease till the very end, was given the player of the match award for his bowling performance.
