Image Credit- AFP
Australia may have tied Pakistan today, but they
actually had the upper hand the entire evening. Australia ended up winning
easily despite a brief threat of a thriller; the devastation caused by
centuries from David Warner and Mitchell Marsh proved to be too much for
Pakistan to handle. To the extent that Pakistan could for a team that posts
367, they fought back to contain.
Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique put on a 134-run
opening stand, but Australia started to chip away with regular wickets, with
Adam Zampa getting four for the second game in a row. Iftikhar Ahmed and
Mohammad Rizwan attempted to win the game by a large margin, but ultimately
Pakistan lost six wickets for a total of 36 runs, losing to Australia by a
score of 62.
In retrospect, the first innings’ midpoint was the
point at which the game’s outcome was decided. To set the tone, Marsh crushed
Shaheen for six runs in his first over, and both openers initially despised
Hasan Ali. Usama Mir, who was replacing Shadab Khan, would miss Pakistan’s big
chance, which was still to come. Warner, who was batting on 10, skied Shaheen
Afridi to mid-off, giving Mir ample time to stand up and snag it. Shaheen was
struck in the chest before it landed, and he sank on his knees in utter
helplessness.
Pakistan was entirely in control of the last third of
the Australian innings, with frequent wickets dropping as Australia’s run pace
came to a screeching end. Australia had already passed 350 at that point.
However, the additional acceleration they had anticipated never materialised,
largely due to Afridi’s excellent death bowling, as he managed a five-for by
taking wickets off consecutive balls in the fifty-first over.
Pakistan too had a strong start with the bat. They
managed to score 40 runs in the first five overs despite little strike rotation
and a lot of dot balls until Australia found that line just short of a length
to put the breaks on. Shafique was kept quiet for the majority of the remaining
powerplay; it wasn’t until the field opened up that he let go, announcing
Pakistan’s intention with a four and a couple of sixes off Cummins.
A few wickets developed into a bit of a cluster when
Babar, who looked outstanding throughout his brief appearance, muscled one
right into the hands of the opposing skipper at short midwicket, as evidenced
by the crazy expression of joy on Cummins’ face.
Mohammad Rizwan
and Saud Shakeel were merely maintaining the runs, with Shakeel favouring the
pull shot in front of square that netted him a couple boundaries. But one
misfire would also be his undoing since it sailed up towards cover on the
offside, where Stoinis made a superb catch.
Iftikhar Ahmed, a cult figure who smashed Cummins for
two sixes to bring up Pakistan’s 250 and 13 off the next score, led the late
assault with 136 left to get. Stoinis over lowered the necessary run rate to
8.5. Though Australia reminded them of the one thing they possessed that
Pakistan now lacked: a world-class spinner, it was probably the one point in
the game when Pakistan would have felt like modest favourites.
Zampa made a triumphant comeback for the final three
overs. In each of those overs, he took a wicket and drove the stake deeper into
Pakistan. He first caught Iftikhar in front with a shot that skidded, and
Rizwan was then stranded in front of his stumps after failing to get a sweep
away in the next over. Mohammad Nawaz was caught well outside of his crease by
Zampa’s penultimate delivery, which he beat in the air as keeper Josh Inglis
snapped off the bails.
That done, his team-mates polished the tail off. By
the 46th over, it was all done and dusted.