06/04/26 02:12:00
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06/04 14:10 CDT Pakistan beats Australia by four wickets to clinch ODI series
2-1
Pakistan beats Australia by four wickets to clinch ODI series 2-1
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) --- Pakistan overcame Australian spin on a tricky wicket
to win the third and final one-day international by four wickets and clinch the
series 2-1 on Thursday.
Pakistan had to fight hard on a turning wicket to reach 161-6 in 41.5 overs
after Australia had crashed to its lowest ODI total in Pakistan and got bowled
out for 157 in 42 overs.
All-rounder Shadab Khan, who had earlier picked up 2-28, made unbeaten 29 while
Abdul Samad was 18 not out to earn Pakistan its third successive ODI win in a
bilateral series against Australia.
Australia had won the second game by 41 runs at the same venue to level the
series while Pakistan won the first match at Rawalpindi last week by five
wickets on pitches tailor-made for spinners.
Left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann (3-38) had pushed Australia's bid when he
clean bowled top-scorer Babar Azam for 40 in the 30th over and Pakistan slumped
to 112-6.
But Shadab and Samad both showed plenty of patience on an abrasive pitch before
Shadab smashed Adam Zampa to long-on boundary for winning runs.
Earlier, Australia's middle-order crumbled against Pakistan captain Shaheen
Shah Afridi (3-30) and leg-spin of Abrar Ahmed (2-19) despite skipper Josh
Inglis scoring 65 off 71 balls after he had won the toss and opted to bat first.
Inglis' second successive half-century seemed to keep Australia on track for a
challenging total but none of the other batters could score more than 19 as the
visitors lost their last seven wickets for 38 runs.
Fast bowler Haris Rauf ignited the collapse when he hit the top of Alex Carey's
(19) middle stump in the 23rd over and then Afridi struck twice in one over
with the old ball when he dismissed Inglis and Cameron Green in the 27th over.
Cooper Connolly, who replaced Tanveer Sangha for the series decider, lasted
only 12 balls and scored 3 before he was bowled round his legs while going for
a ramp shot against Abrar as Australia's middle-order couldn't come to terms
with the slow wicket.
Shadab finally got among the wickets after being wicketless in his last five
ODIs when he removed Oliver Peake and Zampa as Australia tail folded quickly
when last man Nathan Ellis was run-out.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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