Twitter Reactions: Mohammad Hafeez led Pakistan dominate Aussies in the 2nd ODI

By Ankit Mishra

View : 254

3 Min Read

Pakistan
info
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 15: Hasan Ali of Pakistan celebrates after dismissing Travis Head of Australia during game two of the One Day International series between Australia and Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground on January 15, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Pakistan were under trouble heading into the game after losing Mohammad Irfan and Sarfraz Ahmed to personal reasons skipper Azhar Ali pulled his hamstring in the first ODI and was ruled out from this game and most likely from the next as well. Mohammad Hafeez who had rather struggled to make it to the team was given the responsibility of leading the team. On his captaincy debut, Hafeez lined his troops exceptionally to first restrict Australia to an under par total and then ensured they chased it down without much ado.

Aussie skipper Steve Smith won the toss and despite their troubles against the Pakistan bowlers in the first game decided to bat first. Pakistan brought in Junaid Khan for this game and he was in business straight away. He claimed David Warner and Usman Khawaja early in the innings and Mohammad Amir sent back Mitchell Marsh immediately. They were 3 down for 41 in 9 overs. Smith played a slow knock and scored one of the slowest half centuries by an Australian skipper but his 60 was the only fifty in the innings.

Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Wade the heroes of the previous match got starts but couldn’t capitalize and were dismissed for 23 and 35 respectively. Among the major wicket-takers Amir struck thrice, Junaid Khan and Imad Wasim shared a couple of wickets each. Australia, in the end, were bowled out for 220 in 48.2 overs.

Pakistan in their reply started off really well. They crossed the 50-run mark without losing a wicket and it was not until James Faulkner removed Sharjeel Khan that the opening stand was broken. They added 68 runs together and gave the team a great start. Skipper Hafeez stood there and anchored the chase. Building on the momentum he found support from Babar Azam (34). He got to his half century on captaincy debut but couldn’t take the team home and was dismissed on 72.

The two other seniors of the team Shoaib Malik and Umar Akmal got together towards the end and overhauled the target with 6 wickets and 14 balls in hand. Malik was unbeaten on 42 while Akmal scored 18. Twitter was amused with Pakistan’s unpredictability and Australia’s drop in form.

Here are the best reactions:

https://twitter.com/AltCricket/status/820591292870750208

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:

googletelegraminstagramwhatsappyoutubethreadstwitter

Download Our App

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS and Google Play Store
PakistanAustraliaShoaib MalikMohammad Hafeez