Naseem, Shaheen rattle Australia with three-fers in ODI series decider
What's the story
Pakistan's pace attack has done the job as they restricted Australia to just 140/10 in the series-deciding ODI of their three-game series. The match at Perth Stadium witnessed Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah taking three wickets each. Haris Rauf took two wickets while Mohammad Hasnain took one. This brilliant bowling effort has set a target of 141 runs for Pakistan to win the series.
Match progression
Early dismissals hinder Australia's progress
Australia's openers were sent back early in the match. Jack Fraser-McGurk was sent back by Naseem Shah after scoring just seven runs. Aaron Hardie and captain Josh Inglis added 12 and seven runs respectively to the total. Marcus Stoinis contributed eight runs while Glenn Maxwell was dismissed without scoring. Opener Matthew Short showed some resilience, managing to score 22 runs in his innings.
Match details
Late resistance and team changes in series decider
Sean Abbott and Adam Zampa provided some late resistance with scores of 30 and 13 runs respectively. Spencer Johnson was not out after scoring 12 runs. Earlier, Pakistan's captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and opted to field first, hoping to win both the match and series. Meanwhile, Australian captain Josh Inglis was confident of a series win despite making five changes to their playing XI.
Naseem
Three-fer for Naseem
Naseem, who claimed one wicket apiece in the first two games, claimed 3/54 in nine overs. With this three-fer, he has raced to 37 wickets across 17 ODIs at 18.94. The tally includes two fifers. He has five wickets in three games against the Aussies at 31.60. Overall, he has 45 wickets in List A cricket.
Shaheen
Second successive three-fer for Shaheen
Shaheen, who claimed his second successive three-fer, returned with 3/32 in 8.5 overs. With his latest spell, the left-arm pacer has raced to 112 wickets across 56 games at 23.13. His economy rate reads a stellar 5.47 (5W: 3). He has 21 wickets in just seven ODIs against the Aussies at 15.61. The tally includes a four-fer and a five-wicket haul.