After the hosts Australia won the 50-over game at Perth comfortably by seven wickets, Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur backed the fast-bowler Junaid Khan by saying he isn’t a no-ball ‘serial offender’, when he got rid of Peter Handscomb on duck off a no-ball, as hosts were struggling at 45 for two at one stage.
The 25-year-old Handscomb earned a reprieve when replays suggested Junaid has overstepped in the 11th over after the latter was caught in the slip cordon.
“He’s [Junaid] not such much of a serial offender. Junaid was battling into the Fremantle Doctor (breeze) a little bit, so that caused him to over stride,” Arthur said.
While playing his debut One-Day International game against Pakistan after receiving the cap from former Australian wicket-keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist, Handscomb scored 82 runs in a 183-run stand for the third wicket (with skipper Steven Smith).
In the 15th over, Junaid again overstepped the mark that saw Handscomb being dropped at the point region by Mohammad Nawaz.
“But it’s still no excuse. We’ve got to be keeping our foot behind the line. He had a good hit (on Thursday), and ran between wickets with the pads on,” Arthur added.
After suffering from the hamstring in the first ODI of the five-match series, Azhar Ali is expected to return for the fourth ODI at Sydney.
“He had a good field too. We’re confident we’ll get Azhar back for Sunday. It’s a massive boost. It gives more solidarity to our top order. I’m looking forward to having him back,” Arthur said on Azhar.
Arthur was also hopeful that Pakistan will comeback hard in the remaining games.
“We go to two grounds now where that suits our attack. Sydney has turned all year, and Adelaide is slower too. So they are two grounds where our attack definitely comes into play,” Arthur concluded.
Currently, Australia is leading the series 2-1 with two more matches to go.