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Rauf and Ayub lead Pakistan to their first ODI victory in Australia since 2017
Rauf and Ayub lead Pakistan to their first ODI victory in Australia since 2017
Saim Ayub & Abdullah Shafique starred in the run chase for Pakistan.
Australia’s middle order was totally destroyed by the Haris Rauf for the second consecutive game and this time it wasn’t wasted at all as Saim Ayub gave a sparkling victory to Pakistan and levelled all the nine-wicket at the Adelaide Oval with a mammoth 23.3 overs to spare.
It was a strong win against the ODI World Champions. After a thrilling performance in Melbourne, Rauf dominated the Australian batting lineup, taking a fantastic wicket by getting rid of Marnus Labuschagne. He ended up with his second five-wicket haul in One Day Internationals. During the chase, Ayub and Abdullah Shafique started off carefully, but Ayub quickly began playing some amazing shots, including a remarkable hit-off Mitchell Starc that soared into the stands.
Ayub had only scored 7 runs off 27 balls when he connected beautifully with a square drive against Josh Hazlewood, and that seemed to ignite his innings. He hit impressive sixes off both Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, sending the ball into the crowd, and then he executed a slog sweep off Adam Zampa's third delivery. He received a second chance when Zampa dropped a catch at deep point while Ayub was on 47. He reached his fifty off 52 balls, and it looked like a maiden century was within his grasp. However, he ultimately sliced the ball to short third, bringing an end to a thrilling opening partnership of 137 runs.
Australia 163/10 (Steve Smith 35; Haris Rauf 5-29, Shaheen Afridi 3-26) vs lost to Pakistan 169/1 in 26.3 (Saim Ayub 82, Abdullah Shafique 64*) by nine wickets.