AUS v PAK 3rd ODI Review: Smith, Handscomb retrieve Australia to a win

Coming to the WACA in Perth the Pakistani team was in a better mood and frame than the hosts Australia having had a phase of advantage in the opening game and then winning the second ODI. Mohammad Hafeez was able to do what no Pakistan skipper managed in the last 12 years and he was to marshal the troops in this match as well.

They did well with the bat powered by Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan’s half centuries they posted a challenging yet not convincing 263 and had Australia hobbling in hot water early in the chase but then skipper Steve Smith and Peter Handscomb got together and ensured they managed to regain lead in the series.

Smith won the toss and they brought back Peter Handscomb and Billy Stanlake to rest Mitchell Marsh for the game while the visitors maintained the same lineup. Sharjeel got going early in the innings but Josh Hazlewood stepped in, in absence of Starc and took the charge. He got them the first breakthrough trapping the Pakistani skipper cheap. Then there was a phase where Pakistan dominated the game with the bat.

Babar walked in with form and was fluent; the duo dealt with pacers as well spinners pretty well and Australia had little options but to try and force them into committing mistakes. Just when Smith would’ve started to think of an alternative strategy his part-timer bowler Travis Head got him the wicket of Sharjeel who was out bowled right on the half century mark. Head also got the skipper the second scalp sending back Asad Shafiq before he could contribute something substantial.

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Babar carried on and broke into 1000 ODI run-getters list. He scored his thousandth run in the 21st inning and that placed them in line with some legends in the likes of Vivian Richards who also got there in as many innings. He was eventually dismissed for 84 and couldn’t convert his half century into a bigger score and that hurt Pakistan as they had starts from Shoaib Malik and Umar Akmal but no one quite managed to convert it and all they managed in their share of 50 overs was 263.

Hazlewood was at his very best and kept things pretty tight. His ten overs yielded them 3 wickets against just 32 runs while Stanlake and Pat Cummins shared a wicket each.

David Warner like he always does got the team off to a flier, the target wasn’t that big and Pakistan could feel the heat till the man was going. He hit five boundaries for his run a ball 38 while Usman Khawaja took 28 balls for his 9; what made matters tough for Australia was the fact that their openers were dismissed in a space of 4 balls in two different overs. First Junaid Khan had Warner caught behind by Mohammad Rizwan and in the next over Mohammad Amir sent back Khawaja.

But they couldn’t go any deeper in the batting line-up as the Smith-Handscomb pair got together and took some time initially but were sturdy. They knew if they keep wickets in hand the game would more often than not end in their favor. A hundred from the skipper and a half century from his partner kept Pakistan at bay towards the end though Handscomb got out and couldn’t get to his hundred and was dismissed on 82 by the third pacer Hasan Ali; the skipper saw the team home with Head at the other end.

Smith was unbeaten on 108 from 104 balls with 11 boundaries and a six. Head played a calculated knock to score 23 off 25 hitting just 4 fours as the Aussies pocketed the match with 7 wickets and 5 overs in hand; with that, they now lead the series 2-1 and have the momentum back with them.

Brief Scores:

Pakistan: 263/7 in 50 overs (Babar Azam 84, Sharjeel Khan 50; Josh Hazlewood 3/32)

Australia: 265/3 in 45 overs (Steve Smith 108*, Peter Handscomb 82; Mohammad Amir 1/36)

Man of the Match: Steve Smith