Finch doesn’t flinch as Australia ace Pakistan in Sharjah
sharjah —A virtually new-look Pakistan side it was, that turned up on the park and their stranglehold on these conditions remained the same. This had been their back- yard for more than a decade now and Pakistan went by their standard copybook — win toss, bat first and bat big.
And their men followed that almost to the T with Pakistan racking up a competitive 280, with Haris Sohail knocking a maiden hundred. But then, it is amazing what momentum can do. Australia’s new-found confidence following their dramatic series win against India was on view as the visitors aced the chase to win the first One Day International on Friday night.
Captain Aaron Finch led from the front, quite literally, his 12th hundred, and his first since the 100 against England at Chesterle-Street last June, shepherding his team to a comprehensive eightwicket victory with an over to spare at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Finch’s opposite number Shoaib Malik and coach Mickey Arthur may have felt 280 was decent enough a score but with the Australians having mustered 313 in Ranchi and chased down 358 against India in Mohali, the total was perhaps a tad less.
It still had to be chased down though and Finch showed tremen- dous composure in making 116 from 135 deliveries with a generous helping of eight boundaries and four sixes. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see it through, becoming debutant pacer Mohammad Abbas’s first victim in ODI cricket.
It wasn’t Finch alone with Shaun Marsh being the ideal ally to his skipper, unraveling an unbeaten 91 from 102 balls with four fours and two sixes. The pair also stitched together a 172-run stand for the second wicket. Peter remained unbeaten on 30.
Earlier, the Pakistan top and middle-order held firm with some hefty contributions none more so than Sohail. Recalled to the team after some of the other big guns were rested, the No.3 batsman coshed his maiden hundred as the historic Sharjah Cricket Stadium celebrated a landmark 237th ODI, the most by any venue in the world.
And the significance of it was not lost on the Pakistan batsman, who made the Australian bowlers toil, all six of them. It was pretty much an evening of two returnees — Sohail and Umar Akmal.
Sohail, whose last appearance was against New Zealand in Dubai last November, conjured a well-crafted unbeaten 101 from 115 deliveries with six boundaries and a six.
Meanwhile, Akmal, who returned from the wilderness after last featuring in a One Day International for Pakistan two years ago against the same opponents in Adelaide, showed he hadn’t lost any of his attacking instincts.