Awesome Australia, deja vu for Pakistan
sharjah — It was a new day, a different day, but Sunday was almost a mirror-image of Friday. So much so that, had one swapped the days, no one would’ve known, except for maybe the haze that hung overhead at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Pakistan’s stand-in skipper Shoaib Malik won the toss yet again and took strike in the second One Day International against Australia. And they made 284, four more than the other day. After Haris Sohail scored his maiden ton, this time it was wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan.
The first part went more or less the same but unfortunately for them, so did the second. Malik had spoken about getting wickets early but none came as Australia brought their ‘A’ game once more. The Australians looked ominous as they had the measure of an attack that lacked bite, to march towards an eightwicket win with 13 balls to spare.
Aussie captain Aaron Finch made his highest score in ODIs, his unbeaten 153 from 143 deliveries with 11 fours and six sixes, being his 13th and second successive hundred.
The Victorian also racked up 209 runs with Usman Khawaja for the opening wicket, a record for Australia while chasing. The previous best was 206 between Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh against the West Indies in Brisbane in 2001.
Khawaja was denied a third ton, wAustralia’s evolution and Pakistan’s downward spiral means the visitors hold a 2-0 lead as the series shifts to Abu Dhabi. The third ODI is on Wednesday.
Earlier, Pakistan’s total was down to wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan, who brought up his maiden century. Malik, who had got out cheaply in the first game, played a fine knock of 60, while Sohail followed up his first hundred with a patient 34.