Pakistan fall short by 92 runs with James Faulkner picking up four wickets after wicket-keeper Wade had helped hosts to a competitive total of 268/9.

By Abdullah Ansari (11th January, 2017)

Toss: Australia won the toss and chose to bat.

Teams:

Australia: DA Warner, TM Head, SPD Smith (c), CA Lynn, MR Marsh, GJ Maxwell, MS Wade, JP Faulkner, PJ Cummins, MA Starc, B Stanlake.

Pakistan: Azhar Ali, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz.

Australia Innings

Australia's innings started with Amir and Hafeez opening the bowling - the first four overs were tight as Pakistan contained the runs and that bore fruit in the fifth over. Warner tried to flick one away into the leg-side from Amir but the ball swung away a touch and he was bowled. Next ball, Amir slanted a full one across Smith and the Australian captain tried to drive it away but only succeeded in nicking it and was caught behind. Head and Lynn settled down for a few overs and played some extravagant shots with the former particularly severe on short-bowling. Hasan Ali was the one to dismiss Lynn as he went for a big swipe and top-edged it for an easy catch. Imad Wasim came into the attack and bowled a couple of tight overs, dismissing Head in the process as he slanted one across him which was edged behind. Mitchell Marsh was the next one to fall as Imad got one to spin a little and he edged it behind with Rizwan taking another catch. Maxwell and Wade then formed Australia's first partnership of substance with Maxwell bringing momentum back into the innings while Wade struggled a little at the other end.

The partnership reached fifty while Maxwell hit a few superb shots on his way to an individual fifty of his own. Just as he was looking dangerous, he tried flicking one of Hasan's several slower balls into the leg-side but only managed to give a catch to midwicket for 60. In the meantime, Wade carried on with his knock despite struggling a bit at times with a bout of cramps in the Brisbane heat. Faulkner didn't last too long as Nawaz got one to spin away from him, with the batsman giving a simple catch to Hafeez at slip. Hafeez and Nawaz bowled a few economical overs until Nawaz got Cummins to edge one, but Hafeez grassed the chance at slip. However, the drop wasn't too costly as a mix-up saw Cummins run out for 15. By now, Wade had got to a fifty and began to play some shots with the tail - at the other end, Starc was deceived by another of Hasan's slower balls and was bowled. Stanlake just about survived at the end, helping Wade on his way to a hundred as he managed to find a boundary in each over at the death, with the wicket-keeper reaching the milestone off the last ball of the innings to help Australia to 268/9.

Fall Of Wickets

1-13 (Warner, 4.3 ov)
2-13 (Smith, 4.4 ov)
3-52 (Lynn, 9.2 ov)
4-67 (Head, 12.6 ov)
5-78 (Marsh, 16.2 ov)
6-160 (Maxwell, 30.6 ov)
7-170 (Faulkner, 33.6 ov)
8-212 (Cummins, 42.5 ov)
9-235 (Starc, 45.4 ov)

Pakistan Innings

Pakistan's innings began in a stop-start manner, and it basically remained that way throughout. Sharjeel uncharacteristically struggled to time the ball while Azhar was his usual circumspect self. The left-hander got away a couple of boundaries to get Pakistan to 35/0 after 7 overs but it was all downhill from there. Azhar began to struggle with cramps, or a possible hamstring injury, causing play to stop for a few minutes - when it eventually resumed, Sharjeel fell straight away as he tried to loft Faulkner over mid-on but couldn't clear the fielder. Azhar tried to play on but couldn't - he retired hurt in the 9th over. Hafeez was brought into the team over Babar at #3 and fell as fans are accustomed to seeing him fall - caught in the slips off Faulkner. Babar and Umar came together to try and stabilise the innings - the former hit a few solid shots but the latter struggled and his innings was brought to an end by Starc as he tried to pull a cutter, instead giving an easy catch to mid-on. Babar and Rizwan found the runs hard to come by with the bowlers bowling tight lines under lights. Babar tried to guide one to third man off Cummins' bowling but it bounced a bit extra, and he ended up gloving it to slip for 33.

Imad was the new batsman and lofted Cummins over his head for six to give some hope to Pakistan fans but it was a false dawn. Rizwan's struggles at the other end showed no signs of abating and he was finally dismissed by Cummins as he tried to pull a bouncer but only succeeded in giving a catch to the midwicket fielder. Nawaz didn't last long, with Starc cleaning him up with a full length delivery. Azhar at this point returned to the crease but the run-rate was over 8 by now, with the captain still struggling between the wickets. Imad fell soon, trying to up the ante as he was dismissed off a Marsh slower ball for 29 and Azhar was next, falling to another Faulkner slower ball, caught in the deep. Amir became Faulkner's fourth wicket, courtesy yet another slower ball and Wahab was the last to fall, to Cummins as Pakistan folded for 176.

Fall Of Wickets

1-38 (Sharjeel Khan, 8.1 ov)
1-39* (Azhar Ali, retired not out, 8.4 ov)
2-47 (Mohammad Hafeez, 10.1 ov)
3-79 (Umar Akmal, 16.5 ov)
4-109 (Babar Azam, 25.5 ov)
5-129 (Mohammad Rizwan, 30.1 ov)
6-133 (Mohammad Nawaz, 32.5 ov)
7-158 (Imad Wasim, 38.3 ov)
8-163 (Azhar Ali, 39.6 ov)
9-171 (Mohammad Amir, 41.4 ov)
10-176 (Wahab Riaz, 42.4 ov)

Match Summary:

A disappointing start to the series for Pakistan and in hindsight, a bad toss to lose. The pitch was slow to start with and batting didn't become any easier under lights. Pakistan did well initially, restricting Australia to 78/5 but Maxwell helped to counter-attack with a good fifty. Wade carried on after the dismissal and played a superb knock to take Australia to a solid total. Pakistan's chase never got going with multiple interruptions due to cramps and players feeling under the weather. Some of the batsmen got starts but no one managed to carry on and make it a big one. Pakistan also looked to be missing the presences of Malik and Sarfraz in the middle of the innings. Better efforts are require in the next game, and it's essential that the batting and bowling clicks simultaneously, else Pakistan will find it hard to avoid a clean-sweep against a ruthless Australian side.

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