Pakistan’s Haris Rauf led a disciplined bowling attack to restrict Australia to 163 runs in the second ODI of the three-match series at Adelaide Oval on Friday. After losing the toss, the hosts’ batting lineup collapsed in 35 overs after batting first. Australia’s new opening combination of Jake Fraser-McGurk (13) and Matthew Short (19) lost to Shaheen Shah Afridi, who scored 3/26.
As the batting sagged, seasoned hitter Steve Smith and wicketkeeper Josh Inglis shared 38 runs to stabilize it. Inglis was dismissed for 18 by Rauf in the 14th over, worsening the Kangaroos’ situation on a difficult day for the home team.
In his following over, he dismissed Marnus Labuschagne, who had a scratchy six off 11 deliveries. Australia fell to 101/5 in 20.5 overs when Mohammad Hasnain dismissed set batter Smith.
Smith scored a brave 35 off 48 deliveries, smashing six boundaries and a six to lead Australia.
As momentum grew, Haris claimed two more wickets — Aaron Hardie (13) and Glenn Maxwell (16) — in subsequent overs before dismissing Australian skipper Pat Cummins (13).
Australia’s backside was boosted by Adam Zampa’s 18-run cameo before Shaheen cleaned up in the 35th over. The right-arm bowler bowled 5/29 in eight overs, followed by Shaheen with three, Naseem Shah with two, and Hasnain with one.
In the first match on Monday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia won by two wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. On Friday, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood returned while Pakistan’s team stayed unchanged.
Pakistan suffered a heartbreaking two-wicket loss to Australia in the first ODI under Mohammad Rizwan. The visitors fought hard, but skipper Pat Cummins’ brave knock under duress gave the six-time champions a win.
