Pakistan Defeats Australia by Five Wickets in First ODI

Pakistan defeated Australia by five wickets in the opening one-day international on Saturday after Arafat Minhas took 5-32 on debut and hit the winning six. 1 overs on a dry pitch. 3 overs.

Minhas became the first Pakistan bowler to claim five wickets in an ODI debut. The 21-year-old left-arm spinner dismissed three of the top four batters in a six-ball spell that reduced Australia to 68-4. He finished with figures of 5-32.

Babar Azam scored 69 off 94 balls after being recalled following his absence from the Bangladesh series in March. He completed his 38th ODI half-century before Matthew Kuhnemann dropped him and Nathan Ellis later clean-bowled him. Ghazi Ghori made 65 in his maiden ODI fifty.

The pair added 127 runs for the fourth wicket. Australia captain Josh Inglis led the side after Mitch Marsh was ruled out with an ankle injury. Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc were absent due to the Indian Premier League and workload management.

Adam Zampa was also ruled out with neck spasms. Matthew Renshaw top-scored for Australia with 61 and Matthew Short made 55. Matthew Kuhnemann took 1-29 and Tanveer Sangha took 1-31 while bowling 20 overs between them.

Oliver Peake, 19, became Australia’s youngest specialist ODI batter on debut and scored 7. Shaheen Shah Afridi won the toss and Pakistan used spin heavily. Abrar Ahmed took 2-44 and Salman Ali Agha took 1-21.

Leg-spinner Shadab Khan played his first ODI since the 2023 World Cup. Minhas finished the match with an unbeaten 18 off 17 balls, striking a straight six against Marnus Labuschagne. Pakistan leads the three-match series 1-0.

The remaining matches are scheduled for Lahore on Tuesday and Thursday. Pakistan became the third nation to play 1,000 ODIs, after India with 1,075 and Australia with 1,020.