The fate of the second ODI and the ongoing series was decided long before Australia even came out to bat. It was yet another pathetic attempt from Pakistan batsmen as they were outclassed by five wickets last night.
The loss at Dubai International Stadium will hurt a lot, especially as Pakistan put on 126 runs for the opening wicket in 25 overs. From that position, it was almost criminal that they did not go on to score at least 275 and make it competitive.
Batting the whole 50 overs is something that coach Waqar Younis and captain Misbah-ul Haq have been stressing upon, and that was again something that Pakistan did not do yesterday. From 126 for no loss, they were bowled out for 215 in 49.3 overs, a target that overpowered by Australia without much fuss.
There was a sliver of opportunity for Pakistan when they reduced Australia to 72-3 in the 14th over when the 7ft 1in Mohammed Irfan leapt and caught what looked like a guaranteed six from the dangerous David Warner (29) at long-on off Raza Hasan. But the genius of Glenn Maxwell (76 in 81 balls) took over and Australia reached the target losing five wickets in 43.2 overs.
The Australian batting needs to be credited though. On a wicket that was talking a lot of turn, they took the two Pakistan left-arm spinners to the cleaners – creaming Raza Hasan and Zulfiqar Babar for 120 runs in their 20 overs.
Following the win in the first ODI at Sharjah, Australia have won the series – their third back-to-back series win against Pakistan in the UAE. The final match of the series will be played in Abu Dhabi tomorrow.
Maxwell benefited from an early reprieve when he was on two with Australia 77-3. Umar Akmal dropped a sharp chance in slips off Hasan. He made the rivals pay dearly for that, hitting nine fours and a six.
Pakistan suffered another blow in the 25th over when pacer Wahab Riaz injured his left knee and walked out after bowling just 2.2 overs.
Earlier, Ahmed Shehzad and Sarfraz Ahmed gave Pakistan a dream start justifying their decision to bat first after winning the toss.
Ahmed repeatedly swept the spinners and used his feet to play lofted shots, while Shehzad played some excellent shots square of the wicket. The duo scored at a fair clip, and it was Shehzad who reached his half-century first with a square cut boundary, also raising the 100-run partnership in 20.1 overs.
It was the first century stand in 42 ODIs by Pakistan openers – the last being the 141-run stand between Nasir Jamshed and Mohammed Hafeez in Kolkata in January 2013.
Shehzad had a slice of luck when captain George Bailey dropped a sitter at mid-off with the batsman foxed by a slower delivery from Kane Richardson.
Sarfraz reached his fifty with a cracking square cut, but just when Pakistan looked set for a huge total, both the openers became victims of soft dismissals. Shehzad (61, 82b) was the first to go, pulling Xavier Doherty straight Steven Smith at short mid-wicket.
And as Bailey has done so often, he went back to Johnson the moment a wicket fell, and the paceman did not disappoint. Sarfraz (65, 72b) pushed a wide ball to Maxwell at point and Pakistan were 130-2.
Misbah and Asad Shafiq then kept the scoreboard ticking and looked comfortable, except while running between the wickets as there seemed to be no communication between the two. Eventually, a run out that ended the partnership with Misbah failing to make his ground.
Johnson was back again as soon as Misbah’s wicket fell, and he made it 168-4 in the first ball of the 36th over as Umar Akmal presented Smith his second catch of the match.
Smith then took a third catch (Shahid Afridi, 2) and also had a role to play in Raza Hasan’s run out as Pakistan were bundled out for 215.
