DUBAI – Australia humbled Pakistan by 6 runs in the fourth one-day international (ODI) in Dubai on Friday.
Batting first Aussies set a target of 278 runs for Green Shirts. Middle order batsman Glenn Maxwell remained prominent with 98 runs for 82 balls while Khawaja made 62 runs for 78 balls, as Pakistan chose to bowl first after winning the toss. Yasir Shah, Mohammad Hasnain and Imad Wasim each took two wickets.
Chasing the target, Pakistan was able to score 271 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 50 overs with the silver lining that debutant Abid Ali scored 112 runs off 119 balls.
Mohammad Rizwan also scored a century, however, Pakistan was not able to chase the target and suffered the fourth consecutive blow at the hands of Aussies.
Nathan Coulter-Nile took three wickets supported by Marcus Stoinis who sent two Pakistanis to the pavilion.
Australian skipper Aaron Finch, with 398 runs at an average of 132.66 across the first four one-day internationals, has set a new record for the most runs by an Australian in a bilateral five-match ODI series.
He has gone past David Warner, who scored 368 at 77.20 against South Africa in 2016, for the record.
On the other hand, Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik and Imam-ul-Haq have been ruled out of today’s match due to the injuries. Imad Wasim will be leading the Pakistani side.
For Pakistan, Saad Ali and Abid Ali made their debuts in the ODI. On the other hand, Australia has made two changes for today’s game as Nathan Coulter-Nile and Kane Richardson have been replaced with Pat Cummins and Jason Behrendorff.
The series is presently being led by Australia who have an unbeatable 3-0 score in the five-match tournament.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal, Saad Ali, Imad Wasim (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Yasir Shah, Usman Shinwari, Junaid Khan, Muhammad Hasnain
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa
