Pakistan 3-249 (Nasir Jamshed 97, Azhar Ali 59*, Daniel Christian 1-40) beat Australia 9-248 (Michael Hussey 61, George Bailey 39, Saeed Ajmal 4-32) by seven wickets.
Nasir Jamshed played an offensive knock while opening the innings as Pakistan won the 2nd ODI vs. Australia and kept the series alive by levelling it at 1-1.
Australia scored a reasonable total of 248 runs with one wicket in hand under humid conditions in the metered 50 overs and Pakistan thrashed 249 runs with seven wickets in hand and 26 balls to spare.
Nasir Jamshed (Pakistan) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his entertaining innings of 97 from 98 balls.
The second One Day International of the three match series was played on Friday, August 31, 2012, at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
Earlier, Michael Clarke, the captain of Australia, won the toss and preferred to bat on a good looking batting track. The visitors lost an early wicket at just eight runs when Matthew Wade was clean bowled by Junaid Khan for seven. David Warner and Michael Clarke held the innings together while taking the pressure of the rival bowlers off and scoring at a reasonable speed. Clarke was the most attacking of the two and sent the loose ball out of the rope whenever available.
The score was enhanced to 74 in 19.5 overs when David Warner was declared leg before wicket off Saeed Ajmal for 24 runs. Michael Clarke became the next victim at 86 when he was adjudged lbw off Mohammad Hafeez for 37 runs and the Kangaroos were reeling at 4-87 in 23.3 overs. Michael Hussey and George Bailey took their team out of trouble, stabilised the innings and kept the score board moving. The first hundred of the innings was scored in the 28th over and the score was taken to 153 in 37 overs.
The fifth wicket partnership was broken at 153 when George Bailey was caught and bowled by Abdur Rehman for 39 on the first ball of the next over. Glenn Maxwell was the next batsman in and he made an impact by dispatching 16 runs in the 40th over off Abdur Rehman with a couple of towering sixes. Hussy completed his 38th ODI fifty two overs later and 200 of the innings appeared on board in the 44th over.
Michael Hussey was clean bowled by Saeed Ajmal for 61 off 72 balls with 2 sixes and 1 four. Glenn Maxwell managed 28 runs as Australia reached 248 for the loss of nine wickets at the end of the 50th over.
Saeed Ajmal was the star performer with four wickets, Junaid Khan held three whereas Mohammad Hafeez and Abdur Rehman shared one wicket each.
Pakistan initiated the innings in a positive manner with Mohammad Hafeez along with Nasir Jamshed and they scored 10 runs in the fourth over with a boundary from each of them. Nasir Jamshed was in an attacking mood and the boundaries were flowing from his bat at regular intervals. The openers posted 66 runs on board in the first 11 overs as Mohammad Hafeez was gone for 23 on the first ball of the next over.
Azhar Ali took guards in the centre next as Nasir Jamshed completed his sixth ODI fifty on the first ball of the 17th over. Nasir punished Daniel Chrtistian for 12 runs with 1 six and 1 four as Azhar Ali secured his end while ticking the score board. The duo took the score to 167 when Nasir Jamshed unluckily lost his wicket for 97 off just 98 balls with 2 lofty sixes and 11 fours.
The stumps of Asad Shafiq were uprooted by James Pattinson for nine runs as Misbah-Ul-Haq associated with Azhar Ali who achieved his fourth ODI fifty on the last ball of the 37th over. Azhar Ali remained unbeaten for 59 and Misbah-Ul-Haq stood firm at his end with 35 as the Green Shirts achieved the target by hammering 249 runs for the loss of just three wickets in 43.4 overs.
Michael Clarke utilised eight bowlers but only James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson and Daniel Christian remained successful with one wicket each.
Pakistan won the second ODI authoritatively with a huge margin of seven wickets and levelled the series at 1-1. The third and final match of the series will be played on September 3, 2012, at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
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