Haris Rauf, openers fire Pakistan to series parity

A match-defining spell from Haris Rauf (5-29) followed by a fluent 137-run opening stand between Saim Ayub (82) and Abdullah Shafique (64*) powered Pakistan to a crushing nine-wicket win over Australia in the second ODI at the Adelaide Oval. It was Pakistan’s first win over Australia in Australia since 2017. The game was set up by the visitors’ pace attack with Rauf leading the way alongside Shaheen Afridi (3-26). Once Australia were bundled out for a meagre total of 163 in just 35 overs, it was only a question of whether Pakistan could keep their nerve in the chase. Ayub and Shafique ensured that there would no real hiccups for Pakistan although the former couldn’t bat till the end.

The surface appeared to have eased out comparatively in the second half although there was still a hint of movement with the new ball. Pakistan’s openers started watchfully by playing the ball on merit before Ayub took off on his merry ways with some trademark pick up shots on both sides square of the wicket. Shafique’s innings was more orthodox and the pair complemented each other well to thwart any minimal hope Australia may have had of making a game of this. Ayub smashed Pat Cummins for a six before taking Mitchell Starc for two fours and a six. Adam Zampa wasn’t spared either as he too got struck for a six.

Once he got his rhythm going, there was no stopping Ayub who seemed in a hurry to finish things off. That ultra-aggression meant that he missed out on an ODI ton but his 71-ball innings had all but sealed the game for the visitors. Babar Azam joined Shafique to complete the formalities as Pakistan got home with more than 23 overs to spare.

Earlier in the day, opting to bowl on a decent batting surface that had a tinge of green on it, Pakistan’s fast bowlers led by Rauf exploited the pace and bounce in the surface to great effect. There was also a hint of movement on offer throughout and Australia’s batters weren’t able to cope with the challenge. Steve Smith (35) was the only batter to get into the 20s which summed up the hosts’ batting effort.

It didn’t seem like things would end this way at the halfway mark after the start that Australia had to the game. Matthew Short started things off well with a couple of fine drives in the first over of the game, bowled by Shaheen Afridi. Jake Fraser-McGurk then belted three boundaries of Naseem Shah’s opening over as the Aussies raced to 20/0 in two overs. However, Afridi and Naseem soon found their radar right to create inroads. The former delivered his trademark inswinger that tailed in late to trap Fraser-McGurk LBW and Naseem should have had Short in his next over if not for Afridi’s dropped catch at deep square leg.

Like the openers, Smith also started with a couple of boundaries inside his first five deliveries but Short fell soon as he drilled a cut stroke straight to point. The rest of the first Powerplay saw no further damage for Australia as Josh Inglis joined forces with Smith in a bid to resurrect the innings. Both batters played a few crisp strokes and it seemed like a big score was on the cards with the pitch playing seemingly well. All that changed with Rauf’s introduction as the pacer created chances from the outset. A sharp chance came off just his third delivery as Smith’s cut stroke was shelled at backward point by Ayub.

Bowling the hard length with extreme pace, Rauf had the Aussies hopping and he had Inglis in his second over, edging a skiddy shortish length ball down the leg-side. Marnus Labuschagne fell soon after in Rauf’s third over as a cracking delivery held its line off the pitch to find the nick. Unlike the Adelaide surfaces in the past, this pitch never really eased out and it meant that Pakistan’s pacers were in the game throughout with the movement on offer. Having played some delectable strokes including a pick-up six over deep backward square leg, Smith perished to a harmless short-and-wide ball off Mohammad Hasnain, nicked behind.

His wicket was a body blow for Australia who could never get their innings back on track. Aaron Hardie and Glenn Maxwell tried to dig in but neither were comfortable at the crease, and with so many overs left, their muddled approach cost them their wickets eventually. Rauf’s second spell accounted for both of them as Pakistan continued their relentless approach in chipping away at the wickets. If not for a few blows by Cummins and Zampa towards the end, Australia would have folded well below the 150-run mark.

Skipper Rizwan had a field day behind the stumps with six catches and could have been the first wicket-keeper to effect seven in an ODI but he put down a skier off Zampa towards the end. It was, however, a memorable day for him as captain, particularly after having started the series with a closely fought game in Melbourne.

The series decider will be played on Sunday (November 10) in Perth.

Brief scores: Australia 163 all out in 35 overs (Steve Smith 35; Haris Rauf 5-29, Shaheen Afridi 3-26) vs lost to Pakistan 169/1 in 26.3 overs (Saim Ayub 82, Abdullah Shafique 64*) by nine wickets.