Pakistan Beat Australia In Historic 1,000th ODI As Arafat Minhas Stars On Debut
- Arafat Minhas became the first Pakistan bowler to take five wickets on ODI debut.
- Pakistan defeated Australia by five wickets in their historic 1,000th ODI match.
- Babar Azam and Ghazi Ghori starred in the chase with a crucial 127-run partnership.
Pakistan celebrated their 1,000th One-Day International in memorable fashion by defeating Australia by five wickets in the opening match of the ODI series at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, with debutant spinner Arafat Minhas delivering a record-breaking performance.
The young left-arm spinner claimed 5 wickets for 32 runs, becoming the first Pakistan bowler to register a five-wicket haul on ODI debut. His outstanding spell helped bowl out Australia for 200 in 44.1 overs before Pakistan comfortably chased down the target to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
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Australia, led by stand-in captain Josh Inglis, were asked to bat first but struggled against Pakistan’s spin attack on a dry surface that offered significant assistance to slow bowlers. Eight of Australia’s ten wickets fell to spinners.
The tourists made a steady start before Abrar Ahmed provided the breakthrough by dismissing Alex Carey for 19 after an opening partnership of 34 runs.
Minhas then took control of the innings with a devastating spell. He removed captain Josh Inglis for 13 and dismissed Marnus Labuschagne for a duck in the same over. In his following over, he sent Cameron Green back without scoring, reducing Australia to 68-4 and putting the visitors under severe pressure.
Australia attempted a recovery through Matthew Short and Matthew Renshaw, who added 55 runs for the fifth wicket. Short scored 55, while Renshaw top-scored with 61. However, Minhas broke the partnership by having Short stumped, while Abrar later dismissed Renshaw to derail Australia’s hopes of posting a competitive total.
Minhas completed his five-wicket haul by removing Nathan Ellis for eight, finishing with figures of 5-32 and earning widespread praise for his composed and skillful performance on debut.
Chasing 201 for victory, Pakistan suffered early setbacks when Sahibzada Farhan departed for 28 and Maaz Sadaqat was dismissed for 8, leaving the hosts at 49-2.
However, former captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batter Ghazi Ghori steadied the innings with an excellent 127-run partnership for the third wicket.
Babar played a composed knock of 69 from 94 balls, striking four boundaries and a six, while Ghori impressed with a mature innings of 65 that included eight fours. Their partnership effectively took the match away from Australia and laid the foundation for victory.
Both batters eventually fell to pacer Nathan Ellis, but Pakistan remained firmly in control of the chase.
Fittingly, the winning runs came from the bat of Arafat Minhas, who struck a six to seal victory as Pakistan reached 202-5 in 42.3 overs with 45 balls remaining.
Speaking after the match, Minhas expressed his delight at making such an impact on debut.
“It is great to have achieved a record. I enjoy pressure situations and wanted to make the most of this opportunity. I am happy to have contributed to the team’s victory,” he said.
Australia captain Josh Inglis admitted that his side had fallen short with the bat.
“I think another 30 or 40 runs could have made things much more interesting. We made Pakistan work hard, but we did not have enough runs on the board,” he said.
Australia entered the match without several key players, including regular captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and opener Travis Head, but Pakistan made full use of home conditions to secure a convincing victory.
Pakistan Playing XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Maaz Sadaqat, Babar Azam, Ghazi Ghori (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Abdul Samad, Shadab Khan, Arafat Minhas, Shaheen Shah Afridi (capt), Haris Rauf and Abrar Ahmed.
Australia Playing XI: Matt Short, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis (capt & wk), Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Matt Renshaw, Ollie Peake, Nathan Ellis, Tanveer Sangha, Billy Stanlake and Matt Kuhnemann.
The remaining two matches of the ODI series will be played in Lahore on Tuesday and Thursday, where Pakistan will look to clinch the series while Australia seek a comeback.
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