Home CRICKET AUS vs PAK – 1st ODI – Pakistan experiences MCG deja-vu

AUS vs PAK – 1st ODI – Pakistan experiences MCG deja-vu

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In the final analysis of Australia’s complete dominance over Pakistan at home, Monday’s opening ODI will be a mere footnote, an extension of a seemingly immutable trend. Australia have won 27 of the last 28 full matches in all formats against Pakistan at home, the latest victory at the MCG with 99 balls to spare.
However, that would greatly undermine a Pakistani response that was as sudden as it was unexpected. With Australia on top throughout the game, and having raced to 139 for 3 in the 20th over in pursuit of a sub-par 204, this looked as routine an ODI victory as could be. But Shaheen Shah Afridi made Josh Inglis go into the deep to bring on a new man, and Haris Rauf bowled the next over – the fifth of his spell.

Rauf still had the pace to generate additional bounce on a surface that remained firm throughout, with Marnus Labuschagne’s leading edge reaching third man. The next delivery prompted Glenn Maxwell to make a tentative push first, and the ball kissed the edge on its quick journey towards Mohammad Rizwan. Australia had lost three wickets without a run, in five balls, and Pakistan were back and looking favorites in a country where they had had minimal success.

“We all did our best, whether on the field or with the ball,” Rauf said after the game. “We had a plan to fall short from my side. We were successful; we took some wickets this way.”

In the end, it proved difficult to shake off Australia’s dominance over Pakistan. The visitors took another couple of wickets and exposed their tail, but Pat Cummins, as he has done so many times in the past, held his nerve and made sure he was there to hit the winning runs and seal a two-wicket victory.

Rauf regretted some of Pakistan’s oversight. They gave away 21 extras; Australia had conceded only four. Rauf himself sent a leg so long and at such a high pace that he went four and four more, while Naseem Shah bowled another five. Mohammad Hasnain, meanwhile, sent two wide shots well over the batsman’s head just as he took Australia’s seventh wicket, and the pressure immediately fell back on the visitors.

“We give away extras, but when you attack, you have to accept that these things happen,” Rauf said. “We made mistakes and were a bit haphazard. We know these little things have an impact. If you are a good bowling unit, then you can cover for batsmen who fall short by 20-30 runs if you adjust in the field. We were also able to defend it and we all tried with all our might. The game didn’t go the way we wanted, but we didn’t give up in terms of energy and effort.”

Coming up agonizingly short at the MCG has been a hot topic in Pakistan. It was Rauf’s penultimate win against Virat Kohli in the T20 World Cup 2022 that turned the tide of a competition that Pakistan had dominated until then, with India claiming a victory in the last ball. Three weeks later, an injury to Shaheen saw Pakistan’s momentum fade in a thrilling T20 World Cup final.

“We have memories on this ground that we look back on. We lost a couple of very close games here against India and the World Cup final,” Rauf said. “We have made mistakes in the past, but we try to stay in the present moment. The future is also not under our control and we are enjoying the present. Sometimes the result is not what you want and you have to do it.” accept that. And then you try to learn from those failures.”

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