b>Innings Australia 220 (Smith 60, Amir 3-47) v Pakistan
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Junaid Khan pushed Australia to the backfoot early in his comeback game © Getty Images
Pakistan’s spinners cornered Australia’s batsmen on a sluggish MCG surface to set up a chance for the visitors to gain parity in the ODI series.
On the day the hosts unveiled their touring party for a Test series in India next month, Imad Wasim, Shoaib Malik and stand-in captain Mohammad Hafeez combined to expose Australia’s familiar troubles against spin. While the pitch did not take much in the way of turn, its variable pace was expertly utilised to prevent the home team batsmen from finding rhythm.
Captain Steven Smith got closest with 60, but even he was forced to play well within himself. Matthew Wade made another useful contribution, but he was bowled, playing outside a straight delivery in a fashion eerily similar to so many dismissals on the Test tour of Sri Lanka last year.
Australia were forced to shuffle around the batting order by the omission of Chris Lynn due to an apparent neck injury, and neither Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh nor Travis Head were able to prosper in their new positions. Junaid Khan also bowled neatly for the visitors in his first ODI in over one and a half years.
Josh Hazlewood returned in place of Billy Stanlake, who was only able to bowl three overs at the Gabba on Friday. Pakistan were led by Hafeez in the absence of the injured Azhar Ali, with Asad Shafiq, Malik and Junaid also coming in.
It was Junaid who made his presence felt early. He procured an edge from the bat of David Warner, which sent Australia’s vice-captain back for his second low score of the series. Then, he coaxed Khawaja to cut a ball too close to him, resulting in a fine low catch by Sharjeel Khan at slip.
Next over, the promoted Marsh threw hard hands playing his first ball, against Mohammad Amir, and offered up a catch to cover point, leaving Smith and Head with a considerable salvage job. Head was fluent for the second time in as many innings, but was again unable to capitalise on his start, a fate that also befell Glenn Maxwell when he sallied forth to Imad and was bowled off his pads.
Wade and Smith then put together the most substantial stand of the innings, and it appeared to have given the hosts a chance of posting a similar tally to their Brisbane effort. However, Smith was somewhat unfortunately bowled off the inside edge and body when he tried to attack the persistent Imad, signalling another twist in the innings.
The remaining overs were decidedly underwhelming for Australia, even if Pat Cummins escaped a caught behind first ball via a clear outside edge that escaped the attention of umpire Chris Gaffaney. Pakistan were duly left with a chase that would appear within their reach, so long as the batsmen can improve after the fashion of the bowlers.
Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @danbrettig
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo