Australia and Pakistan’s ODI series is tied at one apiece after the visitors claimed victory with six wickets in hand on Sunday night.
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Final score
Australia 220
Pakistan 4/221
Australia will be looking to secure their fifth consecutive victory over Pakistan this summer – and fifth consecutive ODI triumph overall – when the two teams lock horns at the MCG on Sunday afternoon. Join The Roar for live scores and analysis from 2:20pm (AEDT).
Australia’s ODI team looked in disarray after being hammered 5-0 by South Africa in an away tour in October, but since then, the team has looked in sublime form.
With a full-strength bowling line-up at their disposal, the team is looking more like the Australia of old now, cruising to a 3-0 defeat of New Zealand in December before starting their ODI series against Pakistan on the best possible note.
James Faulkner, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc all fired as the hosts routed Pakistan for just 176 in the first ODI at the Gabba on Friday, making what looked a below-par total of 268 more than enough for an easy win.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Aussies, though, slumping to 5/78 off the back of some probing bowling from pace spearhead Mohammad Amir and spinner Imad Wasim, before Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Wade steadied the ship.
Man-of-the-match Wade finally showed off his batting prowess after a run of lean scores in the Test arena, reaching his maiden ODI century off the last ball of the innings and ensuring his team reached a defendable total.
Pakistan’s miserable tour went from bad to worse on Friday when captain Azhar Ali was forced to retire hurt with a hamstring injury.
While the in-form opener returned later, he has been ruled out of the match, and with regular vice-captain Sarfraz Ahmed withdrawing from the series due to personal reasons, the team faced a captaincy dilemma.
Experienced all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has been nominated as the stand-in, and will likely move up to open the batting in Azhar’s stead, while Test star Asad Shafiq looks likely to be brought in.
Prediction
Australia are in imperious form at the moment, and now that Pakistan’s best batsman and captain has been ruled out, the Aussies should be able to take the points and go 2-0 up in the best-of-five series.
With David Warner and Steve Smith both hardly troubling the scorers at the Gabba, Smith scoring his first ODI first-baller, both captain and vice-captain will look to return to form at the MCG,.
Can the Aussies inflict further pain on the Pakistanis with a fifth straight victory this summer? Or will Mohammad Hafeez inspire his team to a series-levelling triumph?
Tune into The Roar from 2:20pm (AEDT) for all the live scores, highlights and analysis, and don’t forget to leave us your thoughts in the comments section below.
rasty
Guest
I thought it looks more like a peg then a bowl....
AD
Guest
Junaid Khan has a pretty bent bowling arm ? 38 degrees ? or?
AD
Guest
Why are we self destructing with Mitch Marsh in the team ? Really disappointed with Steve smith. No idea how to use spinners. What are we going to do in India with Smith as captain ? What is he doing at No 4 ? They should have picked Faulkner instead of Marsh to India. So many fans are really losing faith in the Baggy Green with team selection like this.
AD
Guest
Oh he will. No matter he does not perform. He is the favourite of Boof and S.Smith(Stupid)
Tim Miller
Editor
Was surprised by Smith's reluctance to bowl Head until the horse had bolted, and Maxwell again without a single over is surprising. He's no top-line tweaker, but he could have kept it tight in the middle overs like Hafeez did. Can only conclude that, like Smith underusing Lyon in the Tests, he just doesn't like bowling spin. And that's a real weakness, especially with a tour to India coming up. He's too quick to go to his strike pair of Starc and Hazlewood, and was again tonight, bowling them out before the final 9 overs. They bowled well, but Pakistan just kept them out, punished the rare bad ball and waited until they were both off before pouncing on some Marsh dross. He'll have to work on that.
Tim Miller
Editor
The stand-in skipper, Mohammad Hafeez, is the Man of the Match for his tidy 10-over spell and stately 72 at the top of the order. Makes note of the large Pakistan fan-base at the ground, too. "We love them and they love us," he says. Will be interesting to see the batting order for Perth with Azhar returning. Hafeez could well stay at the top of the order and have Azhar bat at three or even four behind Babar Azam. Anyway, that's it from me. Pakistan in a canter at the MCG, winning their first match of the tour by 6 wickets. Hope to catch you on another live blog soon. Nighty-night.
Tim Miller
Editor
Australia lost this match in the final 10 overs of their innings. Smith and Wade left the charge too late and allowed the spinners to build some momentum, and then were dismissed in consecutive overs, bringing new batsmen to the crease. On this wicket, 250 might have been enough, but despite going into the final 10 just 5 down, they managed just 44 runs and were bowled out, when they should have been looking for 70 or 80 with their batting depth. Will be interesting to see what changes the two teams make for the third ODI in Perth. Chris Lynn could come back, as could Adam Zampa (though doubtful on a historically pace-friendly track), while Azar Ali should return for the victors.
Justin Ware
Roar Guru
Pretty disappointed with Smith tonight. Poor captaincy in my opinion. Head bowled for one over, then brought back on in garbage time to be spanked? Maxwell isn't even worth a look? Come on now. Even bowl yourself for an over or two to see if you can shake things up a bit, too much one paced tactics for mine. Unimaginative.
Tim Miller
Editor
He seems to be the type of player that gets plenty of chances regardless of poor form, whereas blokes like George Bailey get dumped after a few lean performances. His bowling isn't incisive enough to take wickets on a relatively benign surface when the batsmen aren't looking to force the runs, and his batting isn't compact enough to bat in the top order yet. He needs a good platform to be set up before he comes in, or a licence to swing for the pickets at will in the dying overs. His shot today was very poor, first ball with Australia already a couple down early.
Tim Miller
Editor
Australia bowled pretty well tonight, except Mitchell Marsh who was awful, but Pakistan didn't need to take any risks and barely did. It wasn't a pitch that would get batsmen out by itself, but it was a pitch that batsmen could get themselves out trying too much. In that sense, Pakistan were better off batting second, as they knew they didn't need to do too much too early. Hafeez played well for his 72, as did Malik at the end, while Sharjeel, Babar and even Asad Shafiq offered support. Unlike Australia, they didn't look to force the issue with risky shots off the stumps, only throwing the bat at the wide ones or the ones on the pads. And on a wicket that looked to help the spinners with a bit of uneven bounce and sluggishness, Australia bowled just 17 deliveries of spin in their innings. Not picking Zampa proved a mistake.
rasty
Guest
Yeah, big congrats to the Pakistani;s. How bad is Mitch Marsh? Can't bat and apparently, now can't bowl. Shame that he has already booked his tour to India.
Tim Miller
Editor
Pakistan win by 4 wickets with 14 balls to spare and tie this ODI series 1-1. A first victory at the MCG in almost 25 years, and what a way to go about it. A superb performance with the ball followed by a stately showing with the bat. Hafeez, Sharjeel and Babar played nice, calm innings, not going for too much but punishing the bad balls when they came, but the Aussies had a sniff when both Hafeez and Babar went in successive overs. But Shoaib Malik played brilliantly, finding the boundaries at important times, to steer his side to the finish line with a lovely unbeaten 42, before Umar Akmal clubbed some boundaries and got them there.
Basil
Guest
What are you guys on about? He's obviously the perfect ODI no 4.
XI
Roar Guru
Losing it on a wide. Just about sums it up. Well done Pakistan. They deserved this win
Tim Miller
Editor
47.5, Head to Umar Akmal, one wide, and the wide does the job, Head tosses it up again but it's wide down the leg side, Umar just watches it go by as the Pakistan fans erupt! (PAK 4/221)
Tim Miller
Editor
47.4, Head to Umar Akmal, FOUR RUNS, Umar ties the scores! Again tossed up, Umar comes down and makes it a full toss and flat-bats it down the ground past mid-off for four. (PAK 4/220)
Tim Miller
Editor
47.2, Head to Umar Akmal, FOUR RUNS, tossed up and Umar goes over! Full and on off stump, Umar comes down the track and carves this over cover, down to the boundary! Just five to win now. (PAK 4/216)
Tim Miller
Editor
Just one from that Faulkner over and 4 from the last 2, but Pakistan only need 9 from the last 3 overs with wickets aplenty in hand. Should be a doddle.
Tim Miller
Editor
46.5, Faulkner to Shoaib Malik, Malik comes down the track but Faulkner goes short and he just defends cautiously. (PAK 4/212)
Tim Miller
Editor
46.3, Faulkner to Umar Akmal, one run, Umar's had enough and goes for a heave across the line from a full Faulkner ball outside off stump, takes the inside edge onto pad and trickles to the leg side, Malik calls him through for a single. (PAK 4/212)