Haris Rauf was relieved after Pakistan secured a 2-1 win over Australia in the three-match ODI series. After initially going 0-1 down with a two-wicket defeat at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium, Pakistan stormed back with victories in Adelaide and Perth. On Sunday, the visitors won by eight wickets at the Perth Stadium to claim the series.
Haris Rauf picked up three wickets in Melbourne, but his efforts went in vain. He responded with a five-wicket haul at the Adelaide Oval as Pakistan drew level in the three-match series. On Sunday in Perth, Haris Rauf finished with figures of 7-1-24-2, picking up the wickets of Matthew Short and Glenn Maxwell.
Haris Rauf not only won the Player of the Match award in Perth, but also became the Player of the Series. Finishing as the leading wicket-taker of the series, the speedster picked up 10 wickets from three games at an average of 12.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : Perth Stadium has a balanced track, with a slight advantage for the batters in the first half of the game. However, the bowlers [mostly pacers] as the game progresses to the second half of the game. The average first-innings score here has been 206 runs while the overall average score is 203. Given that, the toss-winning skipper should bat first to utilize the second half’s bowling-friendly conditions in Perth.
Toss : Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and chose to bowl with no changes from the previous winning XI. Australia skipper Josh Inglis batting first made five changes to the playing XI bringing in Lance Morris, Cooper Connolly, Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott and Spencer Johnson .
Haris Rauf and other quicks strikes as Australia crumble to 140 all out
Australia had to rejig their batting-order, but openers Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk remained at the top of the order and desperate to fire having struggled across the opening two games. They appeared intent on backing their ultra-aggressive methods and scored 12 runs in the opening over. But things quickly went downhill with Fraser-McGurk caught at second slip after attempting to drive a good length delivery from Naseem.
He failed to move his feet in a dismissal that is common in Perth and his wicket brought to the crease allrounder Aaron Hardie, who was elevated to No. 3 in a role he fulfils with aplomb for Perth Scorchers in the BBL. Even though he was on his home ground, Hardie looked nervous and fell in a moment of indecisiveness and edged to second slip in a reward for Afridi, who conjured beautiful seam movement.
With a hint of luck, Australia raced to 18/0 after just two overs but it didn’t take long for Pakistan to strike. Jake Fraser-McGurk’s poor series continued as he edged Naseem Shah behind to depart for just 7. Promoted to No.3, Aaron Hardie did play a couple of delightful shots but his indecisiveness against Shaheen Afridi cost him his wicket before he could kick on. Australia were still decently placed at 54/2 after the first ten overs but Naseem changing works paid off as Josh Inglis only managed a top edge while attempting a pull.
The pressure was on Josh Inglis, who was already amid a big day in his captaincy debut having been earlier selected in Australia’s 13-member squad for the Perth Test against India. Josh Inglis has often performed a rescue role for Scorchers in the BBL, but he couldn’t get going and skied a short Naseem delivery to Rizwan.
Matthew Short then timed one straight to the fielder stationed at the deep to add to Australia’s woes as Haris Rauf opened his account. There was one setback after another in store for the hosts as Cooper Connolly got stuck on his glove and walked off the field, only to never return in the innings. Glenn Maxwell, desperately in need of runs, was dismissed again by his tormenter Haris Rauf for another duck to effectively reduce Australia to 79/6.
Short managed to get through the early barrage as he set his sights on furthering his bid to become Australia’s permanent ODI opener. But on 22 he picked out square leg to gift a wicket to Haris Rauf, who was feeling giddy at his good fortune. Haris Rauf ramped up his speed and claimed Glenn Maxwell for a duck as Australia stared down the barrel of being routed for under 100. The only momentary concern for Pakistan was Afridi grimacing in agony after being whacked on his left thumb taking a throw at the stumps.
With Marcus Stoinis also departing for a scratchy 25-ball 8, Australia reached a point of no return with the Pakistan pacers breathing fire. Adam Zampa and Sean Abbott dragged them past the three-figure mark but the writing was always on the wall. A six from Abbott saw them reach 140 but Shaheen then put an end to the home side’s misery with two wickets in the space of three deliveries.
Haris Rauf returned and was faced with a counterattack from Sean Abbott, who top-scored with 30. But Afridi ended Abbott’s resistance and then knocked over Morris to send the large contingent of Pakistan fans in the terraces into raptures and they continued to roar through the afternoon.
Pakistan batters make 140 an easy chase to record a historic 2-1 series win over Australia
Contrary to Australia’s start, Pakistan’s openers looked assured as the script looked very similar to that of the second ODI. Stoinis bowled a tight spell with the new ball to keep Pakistan quiet in the initial overs but Shafique broke free with a six once Abbott came into the attack. Ayub smashed a six as well in Abbott’s next over as Pakistan knocked off 47 runs in the first 10 overs.
Abbott’s off-color outing continued as the two openers picked him apart despite not taking risks against the other bowlers. Finally, it was Lance Morris who broke through for Australia as he dismissed both the openers in the same over. But with Pakistan needing less than 60 at that stage, there was no cause for concern as the experienced duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan got the job done in style to seal a memorable win with more than 23 overs to spare.
Australia capped a sluggish series with a sloppy performance in the field. Opener Saim Ayub had an early reprieve, while Adam Zampa spilt a sitter at deep square leg to reprieve Abdullah Shafique as Australia faced the humiliating prospect of a first ever 10-wicket ODI loss at home. But Lance Morris, who showcased his trademark pace by hitting speeds in the mid-140 kph, at least saved Australia from an unwanted place in the record books with the wickets of Shafique and Ayub in the 18th over.
Interim captain Josh Inglis opted not to use Morris until the 15th over with allrounder Marcus Stoinis surprisingly given the new ball alongside Spencer Johnson. Skipper Mohammed Rizwan and Babar Azam, his predecessor, were nerveless with a flurry of boundaries to complete a match that finished two hours ahead of the scheduled close time.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Mohammad Rizwan the series winning Pakistan skipper said : Special moment for me, the nation will be very happy today, we didn’t perform as per expectations in the last couple of years. I’m the captain only for the toss and presentations – everyone gives me suggestions on the field, the batting group and the bowling group.
All the credit to the bowlers, Australia in Australia isn’t easy, the conditions suit their style of playing, but the bowlers were outstanding. Also credit to the two openers, they made the chases easy. They (fans) don’t care a lot about the results, but the people back home are always behind us and I want to dedicate this victory to them.
Josh Inglis the stand-in skipper for Pat Cummins said after the Australia series loss : Pretty disappointing to be honest, I think after the first three quarters of the first game, we’ve been totally outplayed, the batters just didn’t get the runs on the board in the last couple of games.
Guys have their own way of batting, but it’s important to put together runs, stay out there and take the innings deep, and get the results. It was nice to be captaining in front of my home fans here in Perth, but the result was a disappointment.
Haris Rauf Player of the Match and Player of the Series for his outstanding bowling said : First of all, thanks to almighty Allah, it means a lot, we’ve been struggling in the last couple of months, this series was very important to both Pakistan and the team. Thanks to all the fans who came here to support us, thanks to everyone supporting us around the world.
We had a lot of practice in the nets, we spoke to each other as a bowling group, the communication was good and that’s very important. Maxi is a superstar, a legend, just try to dismiss him and I was lucky to dismiss him thrice in the series.
Convincing wins at the Adelaide Oval and here in Perth has ensured a historic ODI series win for the visitors, a first since 2002. But as the Indians found a week ago, some records are there to be broken and Pakistan have beaten Australia in Australia after a span of 22 years (in bilaterals). They showed plenty of grit and determination despite losing at the MCG and rebounded with facile victories in the next two matches. As in Adelaide, it was the four-pronged pace attack that did all the damage today as well.
Having been given first use of the spicy strip, they sliced through a weak Australian batting line-up with ridiculous ease to skittle the hosts out for 140. And once again like the last game, the openers – Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique, did most of the heavy hitting in the modest chase as Pakistan cruised home with plenty of wickets and plenty of overs to spare.
Having rested their first-choice players, Australia needed their second-string players to deliver and they failed to do so. The batting was abysmal in the face of a world-class attack, the bowling lacked the bite and the fielding was terrible. Truth to be told, there seemed to be just one team hungry for victory and that wasn’t Australia. Pakistan deserve all the plaudits though as they continue their stirring comeback, first in Tests and now in the 50-over format.
Pakistan’s pace attack proved to be too hot to handle for Australia again as the visitors overturned a 1-0 deficit to clinch the ODI series 2-1. Having crumbled to just 163 in the second ODI, Australia’s poor show with the bat continued in the decider too where they were shot out for just 140. Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique then looked in great touch yet again as their opening partnership set up Pakistan’s 8-wicket win that has given them a series win in Australia after 22 years.
Completing a remarkable revival, having been engulfed in turmoil ahead of the tour, Pakistan claimed a rare series triumph in Australia after a comprehensive eight-wicket victory on a bouncy Optus Stadium surface in the third and final ODI.
Having lost a heartbreaker in the opener at the MCG, Pakistan rebounded brilliantly with almost flawless performances in Adelaide and Perth to completely overwhelm world champions Australia, who have plenty of question marks ahead of the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025.
It was Pakistan’s first series victory in Australia since 2002 and a result made more incredible given white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten quit just a week before the tour amid well-worn Pakistani turmoil. But Pakistan appeared galvanized under Jason Gillespie, their Australian Test coach who is filling the shoes of Kirsten, and were ignited by a rampant four-pronged attack that routed a shorthanded Australia without their Test stars for 140 in just 31.5 overs.
Pakistan players walk around towards the crowd as they do a lap of honor and they’re received with plenty of joy and delight. They hadn’t beaten Australia since long and this’ll taste sweet. Rizwan’s and Jason Gillespie’s start as captain and coach respectively couldn’t have been any better.
Granted, Australia had one eye towards the upcoming Tests, but beating them in bastions like Adelaide and Perth takes some doing. On strips which encouraged pace and bounce, Shaheen, Naseem, Haris and Hasnain ripped apart the hosts batting twice and then their openers led the stroll towards victories. Australia hardly had a chance in these last two matches and that’s a big statement to make.
The trophy has been presented and the rest of the victorious team gather around their captain for the photos. Australia’s home season has started poorly, but they’ll hope to do better when the two teams meet each other in a 3-match T20I series, starting at the Gabba, on Thursday. The hosts will be once again without their top guns, but can they do better in the shortest format of the game would be interesting to see.