Australia edged past Pakistan in a thrilling finish to the first ODI at Melbourne Cricket Ground, with a two-wicket victory. Chasing a modest target of 204, Australia stumbled to 139 for six as Pakistan’s Haris Rauf wreaked havoc on the middle order. But skipper Pat Cummins held his nerves and scored an important 32 not out of 31 balls to steer his side to a win with only two wickets. The fight between both teams could be well seen, but at the same time, this win revealed that Australia could handle stress better.
Before this, Pakistan’s innings were bumpy. After losing the top-order cheaply to some hot-headed bowling by Mitchell Starc, glimpses of holding on at the end by the middle order were through the contributions of both Babar Azam on 37 and Mohammad Rizwan on 44. They couldn’t build towards it, however, and the batting from the lower order instead resulted in trying to give it a fighting chance at best for Pakistan. A belated cameo by Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi got past 200.
Mitchell Starc proved to be the bowling savior for Australia with three for 33. Those initial early breakthroughs gave Australia an edge and pushed Pakistan onto the back foot. Two other wickets each came for Pat Cummins and Adam Zampa as Pakistan batsmen could not maintain their grip at the MCG and this also meant they failed to make it big for themselves in setting up a sizeable target against the visitors.
Australia’s chase was very shaky, losing openers Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk in quick succession. Veteran batter Steven Smith ensured that the innings had an anchor with a composed knock of 44 but could not prevent the middle order from crumbling under the pressure of Haris Rauf, who delivered a spine-tingling spell that brought Pakistan back into the game. Rauf’s fiery pace saw Australia lose three wickets in quick succession, adding a dramatic twist to the chase.
With the target in reach, Cummins showed his serenity and pragmatic approach to keep the tight situation from troubling him. He rotated the strike properly and took calculated risks as the game came into the bag for his side. The innings proved why he is still one of the most reliable leaders Australia can offer up under high-pressure situations.
The intense showdown had the 25,000-strong crowd at the MCG on their toes as Pakistani fans cheered passionately in a bid to inspire their team. Still, Pakistan fell just short of a memorable victory as fans left the track with a ruing of missed chances and dropped catches that might have turned the match their way.
An interesting ODI is the starting step for the other games to be played since that will be the moment the strength and ability of the respective teams will be depicted. Fans all around the globe would be anxiously looking forward to seeing what will happen in the second game and always expect real drama from the match.
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