Pakistan 202 for 5 (Babar 69, Ghori 65) beat Australia 200 (Renshaw 61, Short 55, Minhas 5-32) by five wickets

Despite sweltering conditions, Pakistan captain Shaheen Afridi had been encouraged to bowl first because of the dryness in the pitch. Pakistan, to make the most of it, played four spinners and just the two pacers and that they wrapped up the visitors’ innings with 35 balls spare for a meagre total was an indication that all went according to the plan.

Afridi introduced Minhas from the other end and the pair bowled in tandem until the 16th over. It took a while for Minhas to nail his line and length but, once he found the rhythm, he tore through Australian batting. It all came crashing down for them in his fourth over as he pushed the ball with his arm with great deception to have Josh Inglis and Marnus Labuschagne trapped in front.

The two were removed in the space of three balls in the 14th over. While Labuschagne was undone with the flatter trajectory of the ball because of which he was late to bring his bat down in time to negotiate a fuller delivery on the back foot, Inglis missed the reverse sweep. The ball of the match, however, was bowled in his next over as a ripping delivery that pitched back-of-the-length on middle and leg struck the top of Cameron Green’s off stump to leave Australia 68 for 4.

Shadab Khan, who was playing his first ODI since the 2023 World Cup, was smashed for a boundary on the first ball as he gave away 12 runs in his first over. He never found his rhythm and proved to be the most expensive bowler in the innings with none for 54 from eight overs. He had also gone wicketless in his last three matches, all during the World Cup in India.

With Australia gaining momentum, Afridi returned to Minhas and the move worked as he beat Short with the pace and turn. Minhas dragged his length back and put a few extra kph in his delivery as Short charged at him to provide enough time for Ghori to dislodge the bails. Later, a sharp leg-break by Abrar from around the wicket smashed into Renshaw’s off stump as Australia’s hopes of setting a challenging total started to fade.

Pakistan used all four spinners, the other being Salman Ali Agha who bowled five overs, but none got the ball to turn as sharply as Minhas did. He was brought back for his final two overs at the start of the third powerplay and completed his five-wicket haul with another stinging delivery that turned sharply after pitching on the middle-stump to bowl Nathan Ellis. This was also the first time that he had taken five wickets in a List A match.

Australia were quick to introduce spin, as early as the fourth over, and they tasted success right away as Maaz Sadaqat holed out to deep midwicket off Kuhnemann. The wicket belonged to Short as much as it did to Kuhnemann as he did well to take a clean catch along the boundary. He was in action again, this time at long off, when Sahibzada Farhan failed to connect cleanly with Sangha’s tossed up delivery.

The ball seemed to be following him and there was a close chance later in the innings off Kuhnemann’s bowling when Babar mistimed a drive to short cover. With the ball dying onto him, Short tried to pluck it diving low to his right but third umpire Richard Kettleborough ruled it had touched the ground. Babar was on 28 off 48 at that time and he went on to score 69 off 94.

Being the only experienced batter in top four, Babar had to display his batting prowess in these tough batting conditions with the pitch continuing to deteriorate and offering more turn and uneven bounce to the bowlers. He sliced Ellis for a boundary earlier in the innings, but later traded his attacking instincts for more composure on the crease. Ghori, who made his maiden half-century only in his second ODI, duly supported him. His 65 off 92 was also his highest List A score.

Babar and Ghori had the luxury of playing dots in the absence of the scoreboard pressure and they seemed content with rotating the strike. The pair picked up boundaries occasionally. They shifted gears towards the end of their partnership as Ghori launched Ellis down the ground for boundaries and Babar smashed the first six of the match off Renshaw before a glorious inside-out drive off Labuschagne. Inglis was encouraged to introduce the part-time spin of Short, Renshaw, and Labuschagne by the excessive turn in the pitch, but it did not do much to derail the partnership.

As soon as he reached his 38th half-century in the format, Babar mistimed a loft down the ground but he was put down by Kuhnemann. He eventually fell to Ellis’ slower ball as he was bowled by a delivery which kept low. Ellis accounted for Ghori in his next over and Labuschagne removed Agha as he missed an audacious slog sweep with six runs needed.

But Pakistan strolled to the finish line with 45 balls to spare and they were, fittingly, taken over the line with a gigantic six down the ground by Minhas who made 18 not out off 17.