It was a dramatic match played between Australia and Pakistan at Abu Dhabi on Sunday. At no point you could find out a clear winner in the competition. But in the end Australia edged out Pakistan by just one run to win the third One-Day International (ODI) and also winning the series 3-0. Varun Arora looks back at the exciting moments of the match.
Steven Smith’s 77: Steven Smith was inspiring in this series. He came up with his first ODI hundred in the first match Pakistan at Sharjah and now he contributed with a match winning effort of 77 runs. He came to bat when Australia had lost Aaron Finch at a score of 48. He played intelligent shots, made good use of the feet and tackled the spinners with utmost ease. He carried on even after David Warner departed. He got out after scoring 77 runs giving Australia some hopes of getting to a decent total. He was also awarded Man of the Series award for his all round showing in the tournament.
Half-century by Asad Shafiq: Last time he scored a half-century was in May 2013 in Dublin against Ireland. But after that ,chances were rare and the runs were not coming easily for Shafiq. Today’s fifty by Shafiq was built in a crunch situation when the required rate was screaming after every dot ball and the wickets were going down like a pack of cards. Shafiq stood on the wicket and played straight batted shots. His fifty off 73 balls included six boundaries. He had done his bit in preparing Pakistan for the win but the lower-order erred in the end giving Pakistan their third loss of the series.
Sohaib Maqsood and Asad Shafiq partnership: Pakistan were on the verge of breakdown after three batsmen were dismissed in quick succession. Pakistan needed a partnership from there middle-order batsmen to get anywhere close to the target. Then came these batsmen with an experience of only 67 ODI’s between them. They stitched up a partnership of 74 runs after just consuming 89 balls and took the team to safety. But the lower order batsmen failed to build on the foundation laid by these two batsmen.
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The Smith catch: It was not a wicket-taking delivery bowled by Xavier Doherty. The shot by Fawad Alam was also not too bad to get out. It was Steven Smith who came from nowhere and created a chance to jolt Alam. Doherty floated in a decent delivery on the leg-side and Smith ran in from first slip to the leg-slip as soon he saw Alam trying to glance it and completed the catch. The umpires after a short discussion ruled Fawad out and the angry Fawad smacked his bat on the ropes before exiting the ground.
The Max-well over: Two runs from one over. Sohail Tanvir the man who had hit a fancy six off Xavier Doherty’s bowling was on strike. Australian hopes were dim. Only a miracle could win them this match and take them to a 3-0 win in the series. The first ball he tries to go for a big slog but misses it. The second delivery he tried to smack a delivery pitched on the middle stump but he misses and the stumps are knocked off. The faces in the Abu Dhabi crowd and the Pakistan dug-out turned blue. It was a suicide attempt from Tanvir with just two runs needed. Mohammad Irfan, the tall left-arm fast bowler walked in with a perturbed face, revealing the tale of Pakistan innings. What came next was expected. Three dot balls. The final ball of the over was still to come. Maxwell sent in a fuller delivery, Irfan swung his bat with his immense power but the ball took the outside edge and flew in the air straight to James Faulkner at covers.
(Varun Arorais a reporter with CricketCountry. He started as a medium-fast bowler, converted to an opening batsman but finally settled with his passion of writing about the game. His Twitter handle is @varunjgd)
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