Australia 231 for 9 (Green 53, Inglis 51, Renshaw 43, Afridi 3-36) beat Pakistan 190 (Shadab 71, Ellis 4-33, Short 3-36) by 41 runs
Australia fared much better on the spin-conducive pitch of Lahore than they had done in Rawalpindi, as they lasted the entire 50 overs and set Pakistan 232. The target was always going to challenge the hosts as this surface had much more turn and variable bounce in it than the one for the first ODI.
Inglis and Short dispatched Afridi and Haris Rauf for boundaries early in the first powerplay as they looked to accumulate as many runs as they could with the ball new and hard before Abrar ended their 46-run stand.
Marnus Labuschagne fell to Minhas once again as he looked for a release shot and ended up top-edging a sweep. With three wickets down for 51 in the 11th over, Australia changed their approach and looked to take the game deep. Inglis and Green took 93 balls for their 51-run partnership by nudging the spinners around for singles and absorbing the dots.
As they looked set to accelerate, Australia were reminded of how unpredictable the pitch was as Inglis, who made 51 off 74, was bowled by Minhas with one that slid along the surface. The wicket opened the door for Pakistan but Renshaw, continuing his terrific form from the last match, pushed them back with an 81-ball partnership of 65 with Green.
Green built his innings with great patience but shortly after reaching fifty holed out at long-on as he looked to up the tempo. When Rauf and Afridi rattled the stumps of Renshaw and Kuhnemann, the innings threatened to fade away, but Peake picked his moments to attack Pakistan. He smashed Rauf for a four and a six in the last over, which added 14 runs to the total. Four of those had come off byes, as Ghori was late to react.
Pakistan had to replicate what Australia’s top order had done after the fall of Carey but Ellis, who was Australia’s lone frontline quick after they brought in Adam Zampa for Billy Stanlake, and the spin of Kuhnemann and Short were too good for them. No fast bowler poses such a threat across both the sides on such surfaces than Ellis, and he sent back Maaz Sadaqat and Babar Azam inside five overs.
While the wickets fell from the other end, Ghori looked in control as he picked up lengths and variations from the bowlers’ hands. He latched on to anything short and stroked those which landed full around the dial. Pakistan’s hopes rested on him, but a Zampa slider went underneath his sweep shot shortly after the first drinks break.
A 59-run stand between Shadab and Minhas gave hope to Pakistan, but Ellis had the latter pinned in front at the end of the 32nd over. The onus of taking Pakistan over the line now fell on Shadab, who braved cramps and the limitations of the lower-order batters. He farmed strike for most of the innings after Afridi was caught behind off Short.
Nothing underscored the impact of Shadab’s innings better than his partnership with Rauf in which he scored all 21 runs. However, when Ellis knocked over Rauf’s stumps, Pakistan’s hopes of pulling off the chase vanished completely. It ended when the man who had given them the most hope, Shadab, was stumped off a wide down the leg side.
Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi is a cricket journalist based in Lahore
