AUSTRALIAN batsman Matthew Wade is cleaned up by Pakistan spinner Shoaib Malik.—AFP
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