Watch cricket video highlights of Pakistan tour of Australia 2024. First ODI between Australia and Pakistan. Venue of the match will be Melbourne.
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Mitchell Starc’s blistering performance has placed Australia in command at the MCG, as Pakistan were bowled out for 203 in 46.4 overs. Starc grabbed 3 for 33 from 10 overs, including three maidens, to build on his impressive start to the season, having taken seven wickets in his solitary Sheffield Shield appearance at the MCG two weeks earlier. The majority of Pakistan’s hitters, with the exception of Babar Azam, who scored a magnificent 37 off 44, were tested on a fast and bouncy MCG track after being shipped in from the low spinning Test fields of Multan and Rawalpindi last month.
New skipper Mohammad Rizwan top scored with 44 but needed 71 balls to do so, while Naseem Shah hit an excellent 40 off 39 balls, including four sixes from No. 9, to guarantee Australia was chasing more than 200. Starc and Pat Cummins, fresh and in sync ahead of a busy summer, put on a performance in front of a highly pro-Pakistan audience. Starc’s 140kph thunderbolts took out Saim Ayub on his debut and Abdullah Shafique. The pair were opening the batting in ODI cricket for the first time after averaging just 8 runs in 12 Test innings combined.
Their international average fell to 7.61 after Ayub cut on attempting to drive higher. Their international cricket opening partnerships are dismal: 0, 0, 3, 5, 0, 7, 8, 0, 15, 9, 35, 14, and 3. Shafique appeared to be batting during a Test match. He guarded, dodged, and wove his way to 12 from 26, but failed to get his bat out of the way of a rising ball from Starc wide of off as he attempted to sway inside it. Babar and Mohammad Rizwan calmed but did not accelerate. Babar appeared to be in good form, scoring with more ease than his colleagues.
However, Rizwan became bogged down while Starc, Cummins, and the rest of the team banged away at the rear of the length. Babar felt the impact of the slow-moving scoreboard. He attempted to create a scoring opportunity for Adam Zampa from the back foot, but chose the wrong length and lost his off stump. Cummins welcomed Kamran Ghulam to Australia with a brute force delivery. The whites of his eyes flared as Cummins’ 142.7 kph bouncer reared up at his throat. He raised his hands in time, but could only glove Josh Inglis.
Rizwan’s lethargic rearguard began to gain momentum as he hooked Starc into the stands at fine leg. But he lost against Marnus Labuschagne. When Rizwan attempted to sweep a broad leg break, he received a top edge on his helmet, which popped up to Inglis. The majority of Australia’s excitement stemmed from Labuschagne’s success with his legspin, after he had previously bowled just medium pace in Shield cricket, much to the chagrin of the Australian team management.
Some late hitting from Naseem, Shaheen Afridi, and Irfan Khan, in the style of the man who had given his maiden cap to Wasim Akram, pushed Pakistan from 117 for 6 to 203. Naseem and Shaheen demonstrated the kind of aggression that Pakistan’s top order could have used, hitting five sixes between them after the entire top seven had contributed one, before Shaheen was castled by Starc for 24 off 19. Irfan Khan had a calm mind but unstable feet as he slid on the pitch while trying a tentative single, only to be run out by inches for 22.
Naseem then benefited by Cummins’ choice not to bowl more Aaron Hardie near the end. The allrounder only bowled four overs, probably to conserve his effort for later in the series, when Starc and Cummins might rest. Naseem pounced on spin, throwing Zampa into the stands twice and Maxwell once. But Naseem also hit Abbott over deep midwicket. He grounded out to mid-off to finish the inning. Australia’s pursuit will begin with a new opening duo, with Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk vying for the long-term ODI opener spot with Travis Head, who will return from paternity leave.
