Pakistan has lost their pattern in a tournament where NRR can play a key role: David Warner

While chasing, it was all over by the 46th over, and Pakistan went to think about what went wrong six hours earlier. Australia, on the other hand, has won two straight and is climbing the standings, gaining momentum as their favorite tournament begins to enter its business end.

Pakistan had won the toss and elected to field first. To set the tone, Marsh smashed Shaheen for six in his opening over. Both openers initially treated Hasan Ali with the same contempt. 

However, Usama Mir, standing in for Shadab Khan, would miss Pakistan’s great opportunity that was still ahead of them. David Warner gave Mir ample time to position himself and get beneath the ball as he batted on 10, skipping Shaheen Afridi to mid-off. Before it dropped, it struck him in the chest, bringing Shaheen to his knees in desperation.

Collectively, Pakistan would remain in that position for the majority of the following two hours. On a rare off day, Haris Rauf was clobbered for 24 in his opening over, which set the stage for both openers to strike. In the first over, Australia amassed 101 runs in ten overs, putting them far ahead of the game as both openers quickly approached century. In the 31st over, they would make back-to-back deliveries, and by then, the 200 was up and the 400 was looking quite likely.

The Pakistani fielding would only get worse as Shafique again dropped Warner in the deep and Babar Azam dropped Steven Smith at first slip. 

The only bowler from Pakistan to come out on top was Afridi, who took out Glenn Maxwell, who had been promoted to three, and Marsh off back-to-back deliveries as Pakistan tried to finally contain Australia.

They would thereafter experience their most successful spell of the match. Pakistan was dominant in the last third of Australia’s innings, with regular wickets falling while Australia’s run rate virtually stopped. 

That was particularly true when Warner eventually fell, but not before he nearly reached his highest ODI score with another massive six off the unfortunate Rauf, and Australia was easily surpassing 350 at this point. 

However, the additional acceleration they had anticipated never materialized, mainly due to Afridi’s excellent death bowling, as he took five wickets in the 50th over, the second time in this game that he had taken a hat-trick. Pakistan took the momentum into the break having scored just 29 runs in the last six overs.

In the seventeenth over, they made the partnership of 100, but Pakistan knew they required more, much more. Only two ODIs have ever been lost outright when a side posted a score as high as Australia’s 367, and it would require big partnerships and probably big hundreds. 

At that point, it looked like Pakistan would lose when Stoinis removed Shafique with his first delivery and then came back the next over to force Imam to hole out to deep point. 

A few wickets turned into a bit of a cluster when Babar, who was brilliant when he was there, and muscled one straight into the hands of the opposition captain at short midwicket. Cummins’ ecstatic expression demonstrated what an incredible moment that was.

It was all about keeping the runs coming in for Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan, with Shakeel’s favorite pull shot in front of square fetching him a couple of boundaries. It would also prove his downfall, though, as one of his mishaps flew up towards cover on the offside, where Stoinis completed a fine catch.

Pakistan made their last stand with 136 to go. Iftikhar Ahmed, the cult hero, led the way, hitting Cummins for two sixes to raise Pakistan’s score to 250. Stoinis’ next over saw 13 runs off it, bringing the needed run rate down to 8.5. It was possibly the one moment during the match where Pakistan would have felt slight favorites, but Australia reminded them of the one asset they currently lacked: a world-class spinner.

Zampa made a spectacular comeback to finish the three-over spell. In every over that he bowled, he drove the dagger deeper and deeper into Pakistan. 

With a skidding over, he first trapped Iftikhar in front, and then in the next over, Rizwan was pinned in front of his stumps after failing to get a sweep away. 

With more than 80 runs remaining to be scored, Zampa delivered the final ball, beating Mohammad Nawaz in the air and catching him well out of his crease as keeper Josh Inglis whipped the bails off. Pakistan was now eight down.

It was all over by the 46th over, and Pakistan went to think about what went wrong six hours earlier. Australia, on the other hand, has won two straight and is climbing the standings, gaining momentum as their favorite tournament begins to enter its business end.

Pat Cummins, Australia captain:

“That was great. Pretty tough playing here but good to get a win. Proper from the openers, it set the tone and we want to take the game on like that. The key in ODIs is to carry on. You get one breakthrough and it looks tough for the next guy. Batting for long, as our openers did, was great. Zampa has been awesome. Showed his class, he’s a wicket-taker. Babar and Iftikhar were big wickets. We’re coming off two wins and have a three or four-day break before the next game. Can take a couple of days off, and then get into work. We’ve set the benchmark in the last two games and gotta keep that going.”

Babar Azam, Pakistan captain:

“First 34 overs in the bowl and field cost us. We dropped Warner and such batters don’t spare you. This is a big-scoring ground and we missed our mark. Credit to quicks and spinners for coming back in the last 15, who hit their lengths and the stumps. The message for the batters ahead of the chase was that we can do it. We’ve done it and the ball comes well under lights. We started well. We got small partnerships but needed big ones in the middle overs while chasing a 350+ score. Honestly, we have to get up to the mark in the first ten overs with ball and partnerships in the middle with a bat.”

David Warner, POTM:

“The groin is okay. Just a bit sore, all cramps at the moment. Stand with Marsh with awesome. Once we got the pace of the wicket, we tried to set it up for the incoming batters. Committing and batting my skills was pleasing. Had a good hit yesterday. It helps when you hit it off the middle, and playing on this ground as well. Marsh and I tried to bat till 35 and we thought we could go big in the back half. We need to work on going big at the end though. It’s what you do as a team. Every run’s valuable. Part of my DNA is running fast between the wickets. Stoinis struck with his bumpers and Cummins also went into the pitch to get the well-set Shakeel and the burgeoning 57-run stand. Pakistan has lost their last five wickets for 36 runs, which is a worrying pattern in a tournament where NRR can play a key role. But it’s their bowling that’d probably hurt more.”