MELBOURNE: Pakistan beat Australia by six wickets in the second one-day international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday, their first ODI win against the hosts on Australian soil for 12 years.

The win was also Pakistan’s first ODI victory at the MCG since 1985 and levels the five-match series at 1-1.

Australian captain Steve Smith won the toss and chose to bat first on a flat-looking wicket, but Pakistan’s opening pair Mohammad Amir (3-47) and Junaid Khan (2-40) bowled superbly to help restrict the home side to 220 all out.

They were backed up by left-arm spinning all-rounder Imad Wasim (2-37), whose 10-over spell in the middle of the innings tied the batsmen down and slowed the scoring.

The modest total never looked enough once Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez (72) and fellow opener Sharjeel Khan (29) had put on 68 for the first wicket.

Babar Azam chipped in with 34 before Shoaib Malik (42 not out) and Umar Akmal (18 not out) guided the visitors home with 2.2 overs to spare.

Hafeez was standing in as captain after regular skipper Azhar Ali injured his right hamstring in Pakistan’s 92-run defeat at Brisbane and was unavailable for the Melbourne match.

“The boys did a great job for us, especially Amir, Imad and Junaid as the ball was not coming onto the bat,” said Hafeez, who was also named man-of-the-match. “We wanted to get a total on the board that we were comfortable with because the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat. The bowlers took wickets at the right time and kept the pressure on.

“This is the way to move forward and we’ve got everything to win the series. The next three games are open for us and hopefully we can do the job for Pakistan.”

Australia went into the match without a recognised spinner and were made to pay the price on a two-paced pitch that favoured the slower bowlers.

Their seam attack did its best to restrict the Pakistan batting, with Josh Hazelwood (0-32) the most impressive despite not taking a wicket, and James Faulkner (2-35) effective with his changes of pace.

But the other bowlers were ineffective and expensive, with off-spinner Travis Head going for 23 runs off his 2.4 overs.

Shoaib Malik one of the three replacements Pakistan made from the first ODI shared 53-run stand with Asad Shafiq (13) to make sure Hafeez’s effort wasn’t in vain.

Hafeez was also a late inclusion as the 16th player in the Pakistan’s ODI squad after he cleared his illegal bowling action and was primarily included in the squad for his off-spin bowling.

Earlier, Amir and Junaid set the tone early with their impressive opening spells.

Junaid, brought into the team in place of Wahab Riaz, induced an edge from the dangerous David Warner (16) to leave the Australians on 31-1.

Junaid soon added the scalp of Usman Khawaja when he edged to first slip Sharjeel Khan, who took a fine catch low to his left.

Australia promoted all-rounder Mitchell Marsh up the order but the experiment failed as he scooped the first ball he faced from Amir to Imad at cover to leave the home side 41-3.

Head then joined Smith in the middle and hit five boundaries on his way to 29 before he edged Hasan Ali to Mohammad Rizwan with Australia on 86-4.

Smith (60) brought up a hard-fought 50 from 91 balls with only two boundaries and no sixes, but with eight overs to go he got an inside edge onto his pads and then stumps to give Imad his second wicket.

There was a steady procession of wickets until Faulkner skied a ball to point off Amir to leave Pakistan needing only 221 to level the series.

Smith said the Australians had paid the price for attacking too early and losing key wickets before the spinners came on to bowl.

“We were probably about 40 runs too short — the bowlers did a pretty good job of trying to contain them, but we just weren’t good enough,” he said. “We went a little bit too hard with the bat ... ordinary with the bat in these first two games, aside from Wade’s hundred [at Brisbane].

“We needed to build partnerships, [but] we haven’t been able to play naturally against them and we were outplayed by Pakistan.”

Australia had their chances but couldn’t grasp the two opportunities provided by Hafeez. Smith missed a two-handed sitter of Hafeez in Starc’s first over before Pakistan could have begun their run-chase.

Hafeez was again missed at short cover by Cummins just after he flicked Starc to the square leg boundary and raised his half-century off 81 balls.

The third ODI of the series will be played in Perth on Thursday.

Scoreboard

AUSTRALIA:

U.T. Khawaja c Sharjeel b Junaid 17 D.A. Warner c Rizwan b Junaid 16 S.P.D. Smith b Imad 60 M.R. Marsh c Imad b Amir 0 T.M. Head c Rizwan b Hasan 29 G.J. Maxwell b Imad 23 M.S. Wade b Malik 35 J.P. Faulkner c Asad b Amir 19 M.A. Starc run out 3 P.J. Cummins c Rizwan b Amir 0 J.R. Hazelwood not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-7, W-11) 18

TOTAL (all out, 48.2 overs) 220

FALL OF WKTS: 1-31, 2-40, 3-41, 4-86, 5-128, 6-193, 7-199, 8-207, 9-212.

BOWLING: Mohammad Amir 9.2-0-47-3 (1w); Junaid Khan 8-0-40-2 (3w); Imad Wasim 10-0-37-2 (2w); Hasan Ali 7-0-29-1; Mohammad Hafeez 10-0-45-0 (1w); Shoaib Malik 4-0-15-1.

PAKISTAN:

Sharjeel Khan c Wade b Faulkner 29 Mohammad Hafeez c H’lwood b Faulkner 72 Babar Azam c Hazelwood b Starc 34 Asad Shafiq c Wade b Starc 13 Shoaib Malik not out 42 Umar Akmal not out 18

EXTRAS (LB-6, W-7) 13

TOTAL (for four wkts, 47.4 overs) 221

FALL OF WKTS: 1-68, 2-140, 3-142, 4-195.

DID NOT BAT: Mohammad Rizwan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan.

BOWLING: Starc 10-1-45-2 (2w); Hazelwood 10-2-32-0 (1w); Cummins 10-1-48-0 (1w); Faulkner 9-0-35-2; Head 2.4-0-23-0 (1w); Marsh 6-0-32-0 (2w).

RESULT: Pakistan won by six wickets to level five-match series 1-1.

UMPIRES: P. Wilson (Australia) and C.B. Gaffaney (New Zealand).

TV UMPIRE: C. Shamshuddin (India).

MATCH REFEREE: J.J. Crowe (New Zealand).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mohammad Hafeez.

FIRST MATCH: Brisbane, Australia won by 92 runs.

THIRD MATCH: Perth (D/N), Jan 19.

FOURTH MATCH: Sydney (D/N), Jan 22.

FIFTH MATCH: Adelaide (D/N), Jan 26.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2017