Australia managed to escape a major scare from Pakistan to win the first ODI of the three-match series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In what was a low-scoring thriller, the Aussies chased down 204 with only two wickets in hand as captain Pat Cummins' heroic efforts took them home.
The Aussies were in major trouble against a strong Pakistan bowling attack. Defending a low total of 203, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah took out the Aussie new opening pair of Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk. After being 28/2, Steve Smith and Josh Inglis partnered for an 85-run stand which brought them back into the game but the Pakistan pacers struck again to send them down to 139/6 and then 155/7. That is when Cummins came and stood tall.
The Aussie skipper held his nerve and while a couple of wickets tumbled in front of him, he held his cool and took them home much like what he did in the first Ashes Test in 2023. Cummins had crucial partnerships with Sean Abbott and then Mitchell Starc of 30 and 19, respectively to take his team home. The skipper scored 32 from 31 balls in a knock that was laced with four boundaries.
Pakistan made 203 batting first. They could have been bowled for anything under 175 but Naseem Shah's valiant effort lower down the order took them to a 200-plus total. Australia used the new ball conditions pretty well after opting to bowl. Speedster Mitchell Starc put up an impressive spell of bowling and took apart the two Pakistan openers Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub. Babar Azam was having a good outing with the bat. He was striking the ball pretty well and had hit four boundaries but the arrival of Abbott faded his shots away.
Adam Zampa came in and Babar fell after failing to read the length of the ball which was not short enough for him to go on the back foot. The ball outfoxed him and cleaned him up. Pakistan were in trouble at 117/6 but Shaheen Afridi, Irfan Khan and Naseem Shah took them to a score to which they could have bowled. But it wasn't to be for Pakistan.
