Cummins’ unbeaten knock steers Australia to a 1-0 lead against Pakistan in the ODI series.
Australia kicked off their ODI series against Pakistan with a thrilling 2-wicket win at Melbourne on Monday.
Pakistan fell short of a respectable total after restricting them to 203 despite Rizwan and Babar’s contributions. Naseem’s late onslaught took them past 200.
Mitchell Starc bagged 3 wickets while Cummins claimed two to wreck Pakistan’s progress. Chasing 204, Short and Fraser-McGurk perished early but Smith and Inglis steadied the innings with an 85-run stand.
Inglis’ aggressive 49 lifted Australia before Haris Rauf removed the set batters in quick succession, leaving them in a spot.
Cummins anchored the run chase with an unbeaten 32 as Australia achieved the target with 16 balls to spare.
Earlier, Naseem’s 40 and Shaheen’s 24 had boosted Pakistan’s total while Afridi returned figures of 1/36. Despite late bursts from the pacers, Pakistan went 1-0 down in the series as Cummins’ captain’s knock earned Australia the win.
The sides will look to gain the upper hand in the remaining two matches after a closely fought opener in Melbourne.
