Pakistan bundled out at dismal 203 runs in first ODI against Australia
Pakistan on Monday were bundled out at a dismal 203 runs after Australian bowlers outclassed the Green Shirts’ batting unit in the first ODI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Invited to bat first by the hosts in the series opener, underway at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the Green Shirts’ kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Debutant opener Saim Ayub (1) was the first one to bite the dust as he was bowled by Mitchell Starc in the third over. His opening partner Abdullah Shafique also fell victim to Starc after playing a scratchy 12-run knock.
Babar Azam, who made his comeback to the national side’s playing XI after being rested in the remaining two Test of the three-match series against England, fell to Adam Zampa at 37.
Kamran Ghulam and Salman Ali Agha also failed to hold their ground and were dismissed after making meagre contributions of five and 12 runs, respectively.
Though skipper Mohammad Rizwan dug in, he too, failed to go big and got out after scoring 44 runs.
With Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed at 24, Naseem Shah (40) and Irfan Khan (22) helped the national side push the score beyond the 200-run mark.
However, with Haris Rauf’s (0) the Green Shirts were eventually restricted to 203 runs.
For Australia, Starc bagged three wickets, while captain Pat Cummins and leg-spinner Zamba dismissed two batters each.
This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.