LAHORE – Men in Green have defeated the Aussies by 6 wickets in the second one-day international on Thursday to level the three-match series 1-1 with a game to go.
Sensational tons of Pakistani skipper Babar Azam and opener Imam-ul-Haq helped team Green to trump the second game. The first game was won by visiting side and the final ODI will be on Saturday.
Chasing mammoth 349, Men in Green steered to the total in 49 overs. Pakistani opener Fakhar Zaman and Imam stitched a solid 118-run foundation to help Pakistan pull off their highest ODI run-chase in a 6-wicket win over Kangaroos.
Fakhar returned in the 19th over after scoring 67 off 64 balls, while Imam kept going and went on to smash his second consecutive ODI hundred. He scored 106 off 97 balls with six boundaries and three massive sixers.
https://twitter.com/TheRealPCB/status/1509596565459066890
The left-handed player then stitched a 111-runs partnership with Babar, who top-scored for the side with an astonishing 114 off 83 deliveries. Star batsman and Wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan and Khushdil Shah also chipped in as the duo scored 50.
For visitors, spin ace Adam Zampa made two scalps, while Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Ellis got one wicket each.
Pakistani skipper Babar Azam slammed a knock of pure class to keep Shaheens in the hunt of chasing a mammoth 349-run target in the crucial 2nd ODI against Australia. With the impressive game, Babar went past former Proteas player Hashim Amla to become the quickest batter in history to score 15 ODI hundreds.
Babar Azam registers the highest score by a Pakistan captain vs Australia in ODIs. #BoysReadyHain l #PAKvAUS pic.twitter.com/PubSY7jpcv
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) March 31, 2022
Meanwhile, Imam also entered the record books as he become the quickest batter in the world to reach the ninth ODI hundred in his career.
Earlier, Australia’s Ben McDermott didn’t miss out the chance to score a century and led Australia to 348/8 in the first innings of the second ODI against Pakistan.
Left-handed middle-order Travis Head and top Test player Marnus Labuchagne also contributed to the batting line. Labuschagne scored his fourth ODI half-century. He was later removed by Khushdil Shah.
Ben McDermott also displayed A-game as vising side set a mammoth 349-run target in the second ODI against Pakistan. McDermott and Head stitched a 162-run stand for the second wicket after skipper Aaron Finch was removed on duck by youngblood Shaheen Shah Afridi in his first over.
🚨 Innings Break 🚨 #BoysReadyHain l #PAKvAUS pic.twitter.com/e7EQaCCT7R
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) March 31, 2022
Stoinis, who earlier struggled with the bat in the first game, went on to score 49 off 33 balls to guide Finch’s led squad to 348/7 in their allotted 50 overs.
For the visiting side, Shaheen led the way with four wickets, while Mohammad Wasim Jr picked two. Emerging players Zahid Mahmood and Khushdil Shah got one scalp each.
Pakistan earlier won the toss and decided to bowl first against Australia in the second match at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, seeking to make a come back after Aussies bagged victory in first game of the tournament.
The Green shirts lost first ODI of the bilateral cricket series to guests by 88 runs hile chasing a 314-run target.
Travis Head, playing his first ODI in over three years, scored his second century in 43rd appearance to lift Australia to 313 for seven in 50 overs after they had been sent into bat. Head scored a 72-ball 101 with 12 fours and three sixes as he put on 110 runs for the first wicket with Aaron Finch (23) and 61 runs for the second wicket with Ben McDermott (55).
In turn, Imam-ul-Haq hit his eighth ODI century while scoring 103 off 96 balls with six fours and three sixes and Babar Azam also played captain’s inning but rest of the players remained failed to perform as Pakistan found Australia’s slow bowlers difficult to counter before being bundled out for 225 in 45.2 overs.
Squads
Pakistan: Babar Azam (C), Imam-ul-Haq, Shadab Khan, Khushdil Shah, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Nawaz, Asif Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Mohd Wasim Jr, Haider Ali, Saud Sakeel, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Shhnawaz Dahani, Iftikhar Ahmed, Usman Qadir.
Australia: Aaron Finch (C), Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa, Ashton Agar, Ben McDermott, Jason Behrendorff, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (WK), Mithcell Swepson, Ben Dwarshuis, Marnus Labuschangne, Nathan Elis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Englis (WK).
PAKvAUS – Imam s ton in vain as Australia beat Pakistan by 88 runs to win 1st ODI
