Australia vs Pakistan, Sydney ODI: David Warner’s 130 Helps Hosts Clinch ODI series
Jan 22, 2017 at 6:08 PM
Australia batsman David Warner hammered yet another ton (130), his fifth in last 10 ODIs, as Pakistan crumbled under pressure to ensure hosts claim ODI series 3-1 in the fourth ODI at Sydney on Sunday.
Earlier, the Australian skipper Steven Smith won the toss and elected to bat first. Much to their happiness, openers get off to a great start. Warner was unmoved by the early swing and thus sent the bowling pack for a beating. In the 18th over, Hasan Ali removed Usman Khawaja for 30, giving Pakistan their first breakthrough.
It was then Warner and Smith, who smoothly crawled Australian innings past 200 runs. During the course, the left-handed batsman completed his eleventh ODI hundred, his fifth in past 10 innings. Putting some hurdles in their growing partnership, Ali then clipped the pair in the same over (34th), to reduce the hosts on 213 for three.
After the dismissals, Pakistan sniffed their chance of holding the match but couldn’t foresee the storm coming their way, named as Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head. The left-right combination wrecked havoc, as both the batsmen completed their fifties in no time. But, it was Maxwell, who with his wild strokes ended up scoring 78 off just 44 balls to help Australia post 353 for six on board. For Pakistan, Hasan Ali bagged five wickets.
In reply, Pakistan lost skipper Azhar Ali in the second over to Josh Hazlewood. Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan then steadied the ship to march towards the target set by Australia.
Sharjeel didn’t shy away from taking on the bowlers, piercing the gaps and then plugging some balls out of the park. He scored a quickfire 74 before a blinder from David Warner ended his innings. The middle order also contributed with scores of 40 and 47 from Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik respectively but failed to convert into big innings.
Spinner Adam Zampa and Travis Head ripped apart the lower middle order before Josh Hazlewood picked up three to wrap up the tail on 267.
Australia defeated Pakistan by 86 runs and clinched the five-match series 3- 1 with the Adelaide match to take place.
Scorecard:
Australia – 353/6; David Warner 130(119), Glenn Maxwell 78(44), Hasan Ali 5/52
Pakistan – 267/10; Sharjeel Khan 74(67), Shoaib Malik 47(61), Josh Hazlewood 3/54.