PAK vs AUS 2026, PAK vs AUS 2nd ODI Match Report, June 02, 2026

Australia 231 for 9 (Green 31, Inglis 51, Afridi 3-36) beat Pakistan 190 (Shadab 71, Ellis 4-33, Short 3-36) by 41 runs

Nathan Ellis returned career-best figures of 4 for 33 from nine overs as Australia toppled Pakistan by 41 runs in the second ODI at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore to keep the three-match series alive. What must have made this win sweeter for the visitors was that it came on a rank-turner by an understrength team.

Australia fared much better on the spin-conducive pitch of Lahore than they had done in Rawalpindi, as they lasted the entire 50 overs and set Pakistan 232. The target was always going to challenge the hosts as this surface had much more turn and variable bounce in it than the one for the first ODI.

Ellis and Matt Kuhnemann caused Pakistan’s early woes by removing both openers in the first two overs of the chase and soon Australia had scythed through half of the line-up inside 12 overs at the expense of only 58 runs. Shadab Khan top-scored with a gutsy 71 off 104 balls, and at one stage seemed a chance to pull of a miraculous win, but he continued to run out of partners from the other end. He was the last man to be dismissed off a stumping as Pakistan were bowled out for 190 in 44 overs.

Australia made amends from the previous match, as their batters fought the urge to score the runs quickly and took their time to dig in. Josh Inglis and Cameron Green scored half-centuries before Matt Renshaw and Oliver Peake made crucial contributions down the order with run-a-ball 43 and 31 off 32 respectively.

The pitch was expected to favour spin because of the scorching temperatures and the head curator of the Gaddafi Stadium was encouraged to allow it to tilt that way as Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi revealed at the toss. But how slow it would actually turn out to be was evident from the very first ball of the match as Alex Carey dragged on a wide delivery because of the lack of pace. The slowness of the pitch made Afridi install fielders at short cover from the third over and bring on spin from the fifth over with the introduction of Arafat Minhas, the Player of the Match in the first ODI.

His first ball turned sharply to hit Inglis’ back pad in front of middle and leg after pitching outside leg. It encouraged Afridi to bring Abrar Ahmed into the attack from the other end and he had Matt Short caught and bowled in his second over off a delivery that stuck in the surface.

Inglis and Short dispatched Afridi and Haris Rauf for boundaries early in the first powerplay as they looked to accumulated as many runs as they could with the ball new and hard before Abrar ended their 46-run stand.

Marnus Labuschagne fell to Minhas once again as he looked for a release shot and ended up top edging a sweep. With three wickets down for 51 in the 11th over, Australia adapted their approach and looked to take the game deep. Inglis and Green took 93 balls to set up their 51-run partnership by nudging the spinners around for singles and absorbing the dots.

As they looked set to accelerate, Australia were reminded of how unpredictable the pitch was as Inglis, who made 51 off 74, was bowled by Minhas with one that slid along the surface. The wicket opened the door for Pakistan but Renshaw, continuing his terrific form from the last match, pushed them back with an 81-ball partnership of 65 with Green.

Lahore was baking hot on Tuesday and Pakistan’s young keeper Ghazi Ghori felt it the most, as he had to spend seven overs in the dressing room because of the heat-induced stress. Rohail Nazir covered for him in the meantime. It was a tough day for Ghori with gloves as the ball went past through him on multiple occasions for four-byes.

Green built his innings with great patience but shortly after reaching fifty holed out to long on as he looked to up the tempo. When Rauf and Afridi rattled the stumps of Renshaw and Kuhnemann the innings threatened to fade away, but Peake picked his moments to attack Pakistan. He smashed Rauf for a four and a six in the last over, which added 14 runs to the total. Four of those had come off byes, as the ball Ghori was late to react.

Pakistan had to replicate what Australia’s top order had done after the fall of Carey but Ellis, who was Australia’s lone frontline quick after they brought in Adam Zampa for Billy Stanlake, and the spin of Kuhnemann and Short was too good for them. No fast bowler poses such a threat across both the sides on such surfaces than Ellis and he sent back Maaz Sadaqat and Babar Azam.

While the wickets fell from the other end, Ghori looked in control against the spin as he picked up lengths and variations from the bowlers’ hands. He latched onto anything short and stroked those which landed full around the dial. Pakistan’s hopes rested on him, but an Zampa slider went underneath his sweep shot shortly after the first drinks break.

A 59-run stand between Shadab and Minhas gave hope to Pakistan, but Ellis had the latter pinned in front of stumps at the end of the 32nd over. The onus of taking Pakistan over the line now fell on Shadab who braved cramps and the limitations of the tailenders. He farmed strike for most of the innings after Afridi was caught behind off Short.

Nothing underscored the impact of Shadab’s innings better than his partnership with Rauf in which he scored all 21 runs. However, when Ellis knocked over Rauf’s stumps, Pakistan’s hopes of pulling off the miraculous chase vanished completely. It ended when the man who had given them the most hope, Shadab, was stumped off Tanveer Sangha’s wide down the leg side.

Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi is a cricket journalist based in Lahore

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