Australia v Pakistan III ODI, Perth – Preview
It took it 12 years, but when Pakistan finally beat Australia in Australia – in any format – on Sunday in the second of five One-Day Internationals at the MCG, it did so in some style, dominating from start to finish.
Pakistan’s spin trio of Imad Wasim, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez, also leading the side in Azhar Ali’s absence due to a hamstring injury, suffocated the Australian batting first to set up a 221-run chase, and Hafeez then led the way from the top of the batting order with 72 as Pakistan won by six wickets.
The result has brought parity to proceedings after Pakistan, which was wiped out in the preceding Test series, went down rather tamely in the first game despite having Australia at 78 for 5 and then 170 for 7. But the fact that it took it 47.4 overs to score those runs in the second game and that it still doesn’t have Azhar and Sarfraz Ahmed mean Australia can think of the loss as a blip. When the action moves to Perth’s WACA ground on Thursday (January 19), the host will back itself to regain its grip over Pakistan.
To that end, Australia has confirmed that Peter Handscomb will be making his ODI debut and Billy Stanlake returning to the XI for Mitchell Marsh, who has done his right shoulder again. Mitchell Starc has been rested in keeping with the team policy of managing the workload of its players, especially the pace bowlers.
With Chris Lynn, who played the first ODI but has since been sidelined by a neck injury, out of the equation, Handscomb will slot in at No. 4 behind Usman Khawaja, David Warner and Steve Smith, and ahead of Travis Head.
“He's done really well, so this is a good reward for a good summer,” said Darren Lehmann, the Australian coach, of Handscomb. “Obviously we want four quality batters at the top, so he'll get his chance there. It's bad luck for Chris Lynn ... the No. 4 spot is there and Peter has done a really good job in the Test matches, so he gets a crack at it.”
Handscomb made his Test debut earlier this season and has 399 runs from four Tests at an average of 99.75, but a List A average of just 31.38 with a best of 72 from 51 games. However, that wasn’t a concern for Lehmann, who argued, “He played a one-day-style innings for us in the Sydney Test, so he's got all the shots and he's quite innovative. Or, if we lose early wickets, he can consolidate.”
Stanlake, meanwhile, managed to put in just three overs in the first ODI, which was also his international debut, but has recovered sufficiently to slot back in. His height and pace are likely to be useful allies in the WACA conditions.
Pakistan, though, is likely to feel pretty good about being at the WACA, the only ground in the country where it holds a positive winning record against Australia in ODIs. Its last win at this ground came in 2005, and the other three wins (out of six ODIs in total) in a different era altogether, but the presence of Mickey Arthur, who was once coach of Western Australia, in its midst has given the team confidence.
“(Arthur) has told us about the wicket and the ground conditions and which areas to bowl and not to bowl,” said Imad in the lead-up to the game. “I personally believed before coming to this tour that we could beat any team in the world in shorter formats, because our team combination is very good.
“No. 8 in the world ... that's the ranking, but our side is better than that. If you don't believe you can beat any opposition, there's no point coming here. We are here to beat them. We are here to play good cricket. We are here to fight.”
Barring injury, Pakistan is unlikely to make changes to the XI that got it its first win on what has been a miserable tour. Junaid Khan, who was called up as replacement for Mohammad Irfan after the latter flew back home prior to the series following the demise of his mother, did well in the second game with 2 for 40. With Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali impressing too, Wahab Riaz might have to sit out at least one more game.
Teams:
Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (capt), Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade (wk), James Faulkner, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Billy Stanlake.
Pakistan (from): Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Rahat Ali, Sharjeel Khan, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz.
