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Steve Smith’s reaction
They bowled alright in the middle there. They went quite short with the long boundaries – we kept taking it on and kept failing! Patty played nicely and Sabba [Sean Abbott] played pretty well before a bit of a brainfade. It’s good to get over the line.
It wasn’t the easiest wicket to bat on. Some balls were stopping in the wicket and others were skidding on nicely. The bounce was a bit variable at times. But I felt good out there. I felt like I was balanced and moving well.
I think Patty has his eyes done recently so they’re obviously working well.
What a terrific game that was. Australia were cruising at 113 for 2 before Haris Rauf found his way into the zone. He took three quick wickets to help reduce Australia to 159 for 7. At that stage Pakistan were slight favourites, but Pat Cummins batted with such authority to get Australia over the line.
Australia win by two wickets!
33.3 overs: Australia 204-8 (Cummins 32, Starc 2) Pat Cummins has done it again! He thumps Hasnain down the ground for four to bring the scores level before forcing the winning run past backward point.
Cummins finishes on 32 not out from 31 balls, another masterclass in lower-order finishing. Since the start of the 2023 Ashes, across all formats, he has scored 134 runs in successful Australian runchases without being dismissed. He’s the new Michael Bevan!
33rd over: Australia 199-8 (Cummins 27, Starc 2) Rauf looks shattered, understandably after bowlign nine of the last 21 overs. Australia settle for a couple of easy singles, which brings the target down to five – and Cummins is on strike.
32nd over: Australia 197-8 (Cummins 26, Starc 1) Starc slashes a single off the last ball. Seven to win, Haris Rauf to bowl. It’s now or never.
31.2 overs: Australia 196-8 (Cummins 26, Starc 0) Naseem Shah bowls two balls to Starc but then limps off with cramp. Mohammad Hasnain will complete the over.
31st over: Australia 196-8 (Cummins 26, Starc 0) Cummins slaps a short ball for Rauf for four; then, after a bouncer is called wide, he looped a couple more over backward point. Twelve to win. Eight to win because Cummins has just driven an imperious boundary over extra cover. That’s a helluva shot.
Cummins is fast developing a reputation as one of the great lower-order finishers. He’s no Lance Klusener, admittedly, but his coolness and clarity under pressure are pretty remarkable.
30th over: Australia 185-8 (Cummins 16, Starc 0) Starc survives the last two balls from Shaheen Afridi, who finishes a fine spell with figures of 10-0-43-2. Nineteen to win.
WICKET! Australia 185-8 (Abbott run out 13)
Another twist in this pulsating game! The non-striker Abbott was called through for a third run off Afridi, who collected a throw from the deep and demolished the stumps at the striker’s end! Abbott, who looked reluctant to go for a third, wasn’t sprinting and got a very nasty surprise.
29th over: Australia 181-7 (Abbott 13, Cummins 12) The dangerman Haris Rauf returns after a short break, perhaps too short. I guess Pakistan have no choice.
Cummins survives a run-out chance after being sent back by Abbott. He was barely in the frame when Haris collected in his follow through, turned and threw this far wide of the stumps at the non-striker’s end.
Abbott clips the next ball just short of midwicket, then jumps across to work a precious boundary to fine leg. Suddenly Australia only need 23.
28th over: Australia 173-7 (Abbott 6, Cummins 11) Shaheen Afridi, who has two overs left, replaces Hasnain. Cummins smiles after a terrific bouncer zips past his right shoulder, and he and Abbott are content with three low-risk singles.
27th over: Australia 170-7 (Abbott 4, Cummins 10) Pakistan have decided to pepper the lower order, and so far it isn’t working. Naseem bowls two more wides before he finds his length and drives Cummins back with some good short balls. The silly point – it’s Kamran Ghulam – is still rabbiting on in an attempt to drag Cummins out of his bubble. Good luck with that.
Time for drinks. Australia need 34 runs to win a memorable ODI.
26th over: Australia 167-7 (Abbott 3, Cummins 10) Cummins’ batting usually goes to another level in tense situations: Birmingham, Mumbai, Christchurch, even his debut in Johannesburg.
Cummins forces his first ball superbly through backward point for four, then gets a bit of a luck when an inside-edge whooshes past leg stump. A couple of short balls are called wide and then Cummins drags a pair of twos into the leg side. Not sure Pakistan can risk another over from Hasnain; he took an important wicket but also conceded 12 from the over.
In other news, that 40 from Naseem Shah looks ever more valuable. Australia need 37 to win.
WICKET! Australia 155-7 (Hardie b Hasnain 10)
Pakistan are three wickets away from an immense victory! Hardie backs away to cut Hasnain, misses and is cleaned up. For the umpteenth time in the last couple of years, Pat Cummins walks to the wicket just as the clock hits squeaky-bum time.
25th over: Australia 155-6 (Hardie 10, Abbott 3) After squeezing down some energy gel, Naseem Shah takes over from Haris Rauf. Abbott is beaten, trying to pull, then fences a short ball through the vacant short leg region.
24th over: Australia 154-6 (Hardie 9, Abbott 3) Mohammad Hasnain replaces Afridi, who has two overs remaining. Hardie is hit on the back thigh by a good nipbacker. The bowler doesn’t appeal for LBW, then starts jumping around when he realises Rizwan has gone up. Pakistan ventually decide against a review, rightly so: it was bouncing over the top.
Australia need 50 from 26. Overs, not balls.
23rd over: Australia 151-6 (Hardie 6, Abbott 3) Pakistan are full of the joys of haal. The man at silly point, not sure who it is, is chirping incessantly in a peculiar high-pitched squeak.
Haris takes a brief time out after falling over in his delivery stride three times in a row. I think he scraped his left knee but he’s okay. That said, he probably needs a breather after a scorching six-over spell.
“Am I right in thinking that this is an unusually old Australian team, especially in its bowling?” says Gary Naylor. “After India’s shellacking at the hands of New Zealand, it does feel a bit like some of the familiar faces that have been at the heart of cricket may be on the way out. I suspect England might just be ahead of the curve a little by going very young, very early. Though there’s nothing like small sample spaces to provoke a little confirmation bias.”
The probable XI for the first Test against India includes ten thirtysomethings. Then again, Australia have often had successful older teams; the one that marmalised England in 2006-07 had an average age of about 50. England’s advantage, in the short term, might be that their best players are a year or two younger than Australia’s and India’s.
22nd over: Australia 148-6 (Hardie 5, Abbott 2) Rizwan may as well bowl his three senior quick bowlers out, because this game isn’t going much beyond the 34th over (Hasnain has bowled four).
Shaheen’s eighth over is a quiet affair, including five consecutive dot balls to Hardie.
21st over: Australia 147-6 (Hardie 5, Abbott 1) Two big moments of fortune for Aaron Hardie! He fences Rauf just short of backward point, then edges a cut that flashes past the leaping Rizwan and away for four.
Australia were strolling to victory at 113 for 2 and 139 for 3; now they’re ina desperate fight for survival. Only Pakistan.
20.3 overs: Australia 140-6 (Hardie 0, Abbott 0) The hat-trick ball is too straight and clipped for a single by Abbott. Rauf put so much effort into it that he fell over, Mark Wood-style, then slapped the ground in frustration.
WICKET! Australia 139-6 (Maxwell c Rizwan b Rauf 0)
Pakistan are in cornered tigers mode! Glenn Maxwell goes first ball, touching a seriously hot, back-of-a-length delivery from Haris Rauf through to Mohammad Rizwan. Only Pakistan can do this.
WICKET! Australia 139-5 (Labuschagne c Irfan b Rauf 16)
Now then! Labuschagne gets in two minds and deflects a short ball from Rauf all the way down to third man, where Irfan Khan slides forward to take another good catch. It’s his third of the innings and his second in the last four balls!
20th over: Australia 139-4 (Labuschagne 16, Hardie 0) Australia still have plenty of batting to come, including Glenn Maxwell. Even so, another quick wicket would make things interesting.
WICKET! Australia 139-4 (Inglis c Irfan b Afridi 49)
A fantastic catch from Irfan Khan at deep midwicket! Inglis has pulled the previous ball for six – Irfan palmed it back into play quite brilliantly but stood on the boundary sponge before jumping – and tried to reach his fifty with a similar stroke. Irfan charged round the boundary and reached forward to take a terrific two-handed catch.
19th over: Australia 130-3 (Inglis 41, Labuschagne 15) Labuschagne squirts Rauf for three to move to 15 from 11 balls. He’s often Australia’s shepherd at No5, guiding them to a target after a flying start from the top four, but today he’s playing with a breezy freedom.
18th over: Australia 123-3 (Inglis 40, Labuschagne 9) Pakistan’s body language suggests they believe they can still win this, which depending on your perspective is either admirable or denialistic. Is that a word? It is now!
Labuschagne moves Pakistan closer to defeat by driving Afridi expertly to the long-off boundary.
17th over: Australia 117-3 (Inglis 38, Labuschagne 4) Labuschagne gets off the mark by uppercutting Rauf over slip for four. Rauf is frustrated but it was a safe shot once Labuschagne got under the ball.
Australia need 87 from 198 balls.
WICKET! Australia 113-3 (Smith c Saim b Rauf 44)
Steve Smith is furious with himself. He was playing superbly, almost flawlessly, until suddenly he slapped a short ball straight to backward point. Saim Ayub took a smart catch, his second of the innings. Smith knows he’s left a few runs out there; even so, the certainty of his strokeplay is a good sign for the summer ahead.
16th over: Australia 107-2 (Smith 40, Inglis 38) Shaheen Shah Afridi returns after the drinks break. He goes around the wicket to Inglis, who wallops a drive that is well stopped at extra cover. Two from the over; Shaheen has been the pick of the Pakistan bowlers.
Drinks
Australia need 99 from 35 overs, and they might just do it.
15th over: Australia 105-2 (Smith 39, Inglis 37) Inglis edges straight between the keeper and a widish slip for four. An affronted Haris Rauf spears the next ball down the leg side for five wides. This is getting away from Pakistan in a hurry; in the commentary box attention has turned to whether Josh Inglis will/should open the batting in the Test series against India.
Nathan McSweeney is in pole position but you can understand the excitement around Inglis. I would probably keep him as the next middle-order cab off the rank; asking him to learn a new position against Jasprit Bumrah feels more than a little risky.
14th over: Australia 93-2 (Smith 37, Inglis 32) Smith pays tribute to that Inglis with an almost identical boundary off Hasnain, whose fourth over disappears for 15. Inglis hooks very fine for six before cuffing a short ball disdainfully over midwicket for four. After a slightly awkward start against Naseem Shah, Inglis is flying: 10 from the first 19 balls, 22 from the next 8.
13th over: Australia 78-2 (Smith 32, Inglis 22) Haris Rauf replaces Naseem Shah, who bowled more menacingly than figures of 5-0-35-1 might suggest. After Smith edges a good ball wide of slip for a single, Inglis threads a superb drive between extra cover and mid off for four. He attacks with such authority.
12th over: Australia 72-2 (Smith 31, Inglis 17) The box seat is never entirely comfortable against Pakistan, whose fast bowlers can run amok at a moment’s notice, but right now Australia look in control of this chase. Smith turns Hasnain behind square for a couple to move into the thirties.
11th over: Australia 68-2 (Smith 28, Inglis 16) Naseem continues hunting for wickets; there’s no point saving his overs because the game will be done if Pakistan don’t get a couple more very quickly. Inglis pushes at another sharp lifter and then thinks better of it; that probably still does down as a play and miss.
Inglis, tired of being a bit of a punchbag, fetches a short ball from outside off stump and over midwicket for a big six. Shot!
10th over: Australia 61-2 (Smith 27, Inglis 10) When Steve Smith’s hands and eyes are perfectly in sync, bowling to him feels like the definition of futility. Saying which, he almost runs himself out with a very tight single to mid-on; it would have been Spandex-tight with a direct hit.
“Shout out to my son Josh, who’s at the game,” says Rob Lewis. He’s been living Down Under for two years, and he still clings on to his support for England. I hope and pray it continues!”
Next year’s Ashes just got even bigger!
9th over: Australia 59-2 (Smith 26, Inglis 9) Inglis is dropped off Naseem Shah, who has changed ends to replace Shaheen. He was startled by a brutish lifter and could only fence the ball towards gully, where Irfan Khan dived high to his right and tipped it over the bar.
Batting looks pretty tricky out there – except for Steve Smith, who lashes another majestic boundary through point. He has 26 from 21 balls.
8th over: Australia 54-2 (Smith 22, Inglis 8) Steve Smith is the perfect man, and I say this with love, to suck the jeopardy out of the run-chase. He drives the new bowler Mohammad Hasnain beautifully down the ground for four, just to the right of the stumps at the non-striker’s end, and is starting to look a bit ominous for Pakistan. An emphatic pull for four more takes him to 22 from 18 balls.
7th over: Australia 45-2 (Smith 14, Inglis 7) Shaheen continues to swing the ball back into the right-handers; nothing lavish but enough to make the batters wary of anything straight. Just three runs from the over.
6th over: Australia 42-2 (Smith 12, Inglis 6) Josh Inglis was in great form in the Sheffield Shield, making centuries in both games last month. After missing one attempted cut off Naseem, he nails the stroke past cover point for four.
It’s high-octane stuff out there. Australia are still strong favourites but Pakistan are aggressively protecting an under-par score as only they can.
5th over: Australia 36-2 (Smith 12, Inglis 1) Pakistan are on one. Smith is hit on the glove by a nasty lifter from Shaheen, who then has an LBW appeal turned down when Smith plays across a good delivery. It was too high and would have missed off, but it will enhance Pakistan’s belief that something is happening.
Smith does not share that view and moves into double figures with a smooth pull round the corner for four.
4th over: Australia 28-2 (Smith 5, Inglis 0) That was the last ball of the over.
WICKET! Australia 28-2 (Fraser-McGurk c Irfan b Naseem 16)
Fraser-McGurk cloths Naseem Shah straight to mid-on. He’s been teasing the fielders, mistiming shots all over the place, but this time he picked out Irfan Khan. Fraser-McGurk goes for 16 from 14 balls; while he’s the definition of box office, you can argue that that was a pretty ugly innings, unbecoming of somebody with his talent. He basically tried to hit every ball for four or six.
3rd over: Australia 21-1 (Fraser-McGurk 13, Smith 2) Steve Smith gets off the mark with a confident hook for two. Pakistan are hunting wickets, knowing that’s the only way they can win this game.
WICKET! Australia 19-1 (Short c Saim b Afridi 1)
An early breakthrough for Pakistan. Short tries to pull Afridi, a shot that is usually so profitable, but the ball is angled across and he top-edges it towards third man. Three men converge and Saim Ayub, running back from inside the circle, takes a terrific catch over his shoulder.
2nd over: Australia 18-0 (Short 1, Fraser-McGurk 12) Strap in, folks, Jake Fraser-McGurk is batting. He drives Naseem Shah’s first ball high over mid-off, but doesn’t time it properly and almost gives a catch to Babar Azam. Babar charged desperately towards the boundary and couldn’t quite get there.
An extravagant chip over mid-off teases the fielder before landing safely for a couple more runs, then Fraser-McGurk launches an emphatic first boundary over wide mid-on. Four leg-byes and a quick single complete a very profitable over, 14 from it.
1st over: Australia 4-0 (Short 1, Fraser-McGurk 3) There’s some early inswing to the right-handers for Shaheen, but he’s a bit too straight and that allows both openers to get off the mark with clips to leg. A quiet start.
The players are back on the field. Shaheen Shah Afridi is about to open the bowling to Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk, and I would suggest a maiden over is unlikely.
Thanks Angus, afternoon everyone. We should probably have expected this. Pakistan have a wretched recent ODI record both against and in Australia: they’ve won only 8 of the last 40 games between the sides. And it’s likely to become 8 from 41 despite the infectious defiance of Naseem Shah, who smashed four sixes from No9 to take Pakistan past 200.
Even so, the last time Australia failed to chase a target of 204 or less at home* was against New Zealand in January 2002, when Steve Waugh was starting his last month as white-ball captain, Mulholland Drive was scaring the bejesus out of cinemaphiles and a love was burning inside Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It was a lifetime ago.
* Barring a DLS game in 2007 when they were chasing 186 from 27 overs, which doesn’t count.
Pakistan all out 203 in 46.4 overs
The visitors did well to smash, grab and scamper their way to 200 in the end but this first ODI is still very much Australia’s game to lose. Their bowlers were relentless, with Mitchell Starc the pick, finishing with 3-33. Pat Cummins chimed in with 2-39 and Adam Zampa returned 2-69, including the key wicket of Babar Azam, a victory soured somewhat by the late stick he copped from No 8 Naseem Shah who whacked a valuable 40 from 39 balls. Pakistan’s top order crumpled like a cheap suit and it was left to their middle order and tail to salvage some pride. But will 203 runs be enough against an Australian wrecking crew featuring Glenn Maxwell and Jake Fraser-McGurk? Join Rob Smyth after the dinner break to find out.
WICKET! Pakistan 203-10 (Naseem c Starc b Cummins 40)
Cummins finishes it! Pakistan had fought hard to get to 200 thanks to Naseem’s fireworks but they flopped over the line with nothing left. After all that masterful blasting it’s a slower ball that undoes Naseem. He misjudges the drive and pops a simple catch to Starc at midoff to finish the Pakistan innings.
46th over: Pakistan 203-9 (Naseem 40, Hasnain 1) Zampa comes back to deliver the coup de grace. Or does he? Naseem won’t go down with a whimper. He takes a single from the first and exposes No 11 Hasnain. But the bunny gets a runny and WHAM! Naseem plunders Zampa’ next ball, sending it over the long on fence. SIX! Fifth ball is wider and has more fizz on it but Naseem doesn’t care. He dances out of his crease again and and lofts it over cover for FOUR. Nice batting Naseem. And what a way to finish the over as Naseem swings through the line and sends it dead straight for another SIX!
45th over: Pakistan 184-9 (Naseem 23, Hasnain 0) Glenn Maxwell whirls through an over and Naseem picks off a single. Can Pakistan make 200?