RAWALPINDI: Australia were bowled out for 200 in the 45th over of the first ODI of the three-match series against Pakistan at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, setting the hosts an easy target of 201 runs for victory.
Earlier, Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi won the toss and elected to field first, a decision that proved effective as the Pakistani bowlers prevented the Australian batters from settling at the crease.
Australia opened their innings with Alex Carey and Matthew Short. However, Carey was dismissed for 19 runs after being caught off Abrar Ahmed’s bowling.
Josh Inglis scored 13, while Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green were dismissed without scoring.
For Australia, Matthew Short scored 55 and Matt Renshaw made 61. Oliver Peake contributed 7, Nathan Ellis 8, Tanveer Sangha was dismissed for nought, and Matthew Kuhnemann scored 24 runs.
Young spinner Arafat Minhas, playing his first ODI for Pakistan, produced an impressive performance and claimed five Australian wickets.
With this achievement, he became the first Pakistani bowler to take a five-wicket haul on ODI debut. Previously, Zakir Khan had taken four wickets on his debut in 1984.
Apart from Minhas, Abrar Ahmed took two wickets, while captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Salman Ali Agha picked up one wicket each.
Pakistan’s playing XI includes captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sahibzada Farhan, Moaz Sadaqat, Babar Azam, Ghazi Ghori, Salman Ali Agha, Abdul Samad, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed and debutant Arafat Minhas.
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