Pakistan vs Australia, 1st ODI: Babar Azam registers unwanted one-day record in Melbourne; find out
Babar Azam was dismissed for 37 (44b) in Pakistan's first ODI against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Babar Azam registered an unwanted record in ODIs during the first match against Australia on Monday when the former Pakistan captain was undone by Adam Zampa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Coming into bat early in the innings after the dismissal of Saim Ayub, the right-hander forged a 39-run stand with new skipper Mohammad Rizwan before being cleaned up by a Zampa delivery that kept low. It was Babar’s first clean-bowled dismissal against a spinner in five years in 50-overs cricket.
However, Pakistan are in a tough position after being sent into bat. The visitors lost openers Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique cheaply before Babar and Rizwan revived the innings. But with Babar going back in the hut, wickets kept tumbling again for Pakistan.
On the other hand, Australian pacer Mitchell Starc surpassed legendary Brett Lee to become the fastest to reach 100 ODI wickets in Australia. While Starc completed the feat in 54 innings, Lee reached the milestone in 55 innings.
The left-arm pacer also became the sixth player to reach 100 ODI wickets in Australia after Lee, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Craig McDermott and Steve Waugh.
At the time of writing this article, Rizwan was Pakistan's top-scorer with 44 as the Men in Green are six wickets down for 124 in 33 overs. Meanwhile, Pat Cummins, who hasn't played for Australia since the T20 World Cup in June, returned to lead the side while Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head are on paternity leave for the three-match series.
The series is Australia's major preparation for next year's Champions Trophy as it is scheduled to play just one more ODI – against Sri Lanka in February.
Pakistan, who will host the Champions Trophy, are coming into the series with plenty of happenings around its white-ball squad and team management over the last year. Babar has twice stepped down from limited-overs leadership since last year's 50-over World Cup in India, with Rizwan taking over the reins just ahead of the team's departure to Australia.
Opening batter Saim Ayub and all-rounder Irfan Khan were awarded ODI debuts on Monday.
Pakistan vs Australia playing XIs
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Kamran Ghulam, Salman Ali Agha, Irfan Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain.
Australia: Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.
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Business NewsSportsCricket NewsPakistan vs Australia, 1st ODI: Babar Azam registers unwanted one-day record in Melbourne; find out
First Published:4 Nov 2024, 12:00 PM IST
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