Haris Rauf was awarded Player of the Match and Player of the Series (Photo: AFP).
In the deciding match of the three-match ODI series between Pakistan and Australia, Pakistan defeated Australia at its home ground after 22 years to win the series 1-2.
In the match played at the Perth Cricket Stadium, Pakistan achieved the target of 140 runs in the 27th over with the loss of two wickets.
Haris Rauf was awarded Player of the Match and Player of the Series for his excellent bowling performance in the three-match series.
It may be noted that earlier in 2002, under the leadership of Waqar Younis, Pakistan defeated Australia by 2-1 in the ODI series on its soil.
Pakistan’s innings
Chasing the target of 140 runs, the Pakistani openers provided a good start. Saeem Ayub and Abdullah Shafiq scored 84 runs in a mutual partnership.
Both the batsmen added to the team’s score by batting cautiously.
The Australian bowlers failed to break the opening partnership for 18 overs despite their best efforts.
Pakistan’s first loss came when Abdullah Shafiq got out on the first ball of the 18th over after opening the innings with 37 runs.
Saeem Ayub also lost his wicket in the same over.
After that, the batsmen Muhammad Rizwan and Babar Azam showed responsible play and won the match. Babar Azam remained not out with 28 and Mohammad Rizwan 30 runs.
Lance Morris took both the wickets for Australia.
Australia’s innings
When Australia started batting on Pakistan’s invitation, openers Matthew Short and Jack Fraser McGurk took to the pitch. Both the batsmen scored a total of 20 without loss.
Australia’s first loss came on the first ball of the fourth over when Jack Fraser McGurk caught wicketkeeper Muhammad Rizwan off Shaheen Afridi’s ball. He scored seven individual scores.
After that, Yaron Hardy, who came one down, could not stay at the crease for a long time and returned to the pavilion after catching Agha Salman off Shaheen Afridi’s ball for 36 in the sixth over. He scored 12 individual runs.
After that, Josh Ingles was dismissed for seven and opener Matthew Short for 22 runs.
Cooper Connolly returned to the pavilion on seven, Marcus Stoins on eight and Glenn Maxwell on zero.
As soon as Sean Abbott came to the crease, he started playing boundaries, which for a while stopped the falling wickets of Australia and also boosted the morale of the team.
But they also failed to add runs in Australia’s favor for long. With the help of a six and two fours, Kirsin Abbott played an innings of 30 runs and caught Haris Rauf off the ball of Shaheen Afridi.
After that, Adam Zampa was dismissed for 13 and Lance Morris for zero while Spencer Johnson remained unbeaten with 12 runs.
On behalf of Pakistan, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi took three wickets each, Haris Rauf took two wickets and Mohammad Hasnain took one wicket.
