MELBOURNE: Skipper Pat Cummins played a gutsy knock under pressure and steered Australia to a hard-fought two-wicket victory over Pakistan in the first ODI here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Monday.
Chasing 204, the home side had to put in hard yards to chase down the total in 33.3 overs.
Australia had a shaky start to the pursuit as their openers Jake Fraser-McGurk (16) and Matthew Short (1) perished inside four overs with just 28 runs on the board.
Following the early blow, experienced batter Steve Smith put together an anchoring partnership for the third wicket with Josh Inglis.
The pair looked in great touch amid their 85-run stand until Smith handed Saim Ayub a straighforward catch off Haris Rauf.
Smith scored 44 off 46 deliveries with the help of six boundaries.
Inglis was then involved in a brief partnership with Marnus Labuschagne before falling victim to Shaheen Shah Afridi in the 20th over.
He fell just one short of his well-deserved half-century, scoring 49 off 42 balls, laced with four fours and three sixes.
His dismissal was part of a middle-order collapse, majorly inflicted by Haris, who removed Labuschagne (16) and Glenn Maxwell (0) on successive deliveries in the next over, reducing Australia to 139/6.
All-rounder Aaron Hardie then registered an important 16-run partnership with Sean Abbott before being cleaned up by returning Mohammad Hasnain in the 26th over.
Coming out to bat at No.9 when Australia were reeling at 155/7, Cummins showcase astounding grit to steer his side over the line.
He scored an unbeaten 32 off 31 balls with the help of four boundaries.
He was supported by Abbott and Mitchell Starc, who scored 13 and two not out respectively.
Haris was the standout bowler for Pakistan, taking three wickets, followed by Shaheen with two, while Naseem Shah and Hasnain shared two between them.
Put into bat first, Pakistan’s batting unit struggled against a ruthless Australian bowling attack and could accumulate 203 before getting bundled out in the 47th over.
The visitors got off to a shaky start to their innings as they lost debutant opener Saim Ayub (1) in the third over with just three runs on the board.
His opening partner Abdullah Shafique tasted similar fate as he too, was dismissed by Mitchell Starc, resulting in Pakistan slipping to 24/2 in 6.4 overs.
Following the early hiccup, skipper Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam forged a fighting partnership.
The duo appeared to have settled down, having added 39 runs for the third wicket.
But until Pat Cummins’ decision to introduce spin turned the tide in Australia's favour as Adam Zampa got rid of star batter Babar Azam in the 18th over.
Babar scored a cautious 37 off 44 deliveries with the help of four boundaries.
His dismissal prompted a middle-order collapse as Pakistan lost three more wickets in quick succession, including that of their captain Rizwan, and thus slipped to 117/6 in 31.4 overs.
Rizwan remained the top-scorer for Pakistan with a 71-ball 44, which featured two fours and a six.
Debutant middle-order batter Muhammad Irfan Khan then put together a crucial partnership with Shaheen Shah Afridi.
The pair added 31 runs at a brisk pace amid their stand, which lasted with Shaheen’s dismissal off Starc in the 37th over.
Irfan was then involved in another crucial partnership when he, alongside Naseem Shah, added 27 runs for the eighth wicket.
The debutant, however, had an agonizing end to his brilliant innings as he got run out after scoring 22 off 35 deliveries.
Naseem Shah then launched an onslaught on the Australian bowlers and gave a late push to Pakistan's total, courtesy of his quickfire cameo.
He smashed one four and four sixes on his way to a 39-ball 40.
Starc led the way for Australia with three wickets, followed by Adam Zampa and Pat Cummins with two each. Sean Abbott and Marnus Labuschagne made one scalp apiece.
