Pakistan sails to ODI series victory after Australia’s latest batting horror show cricket

Cooper Connolly suffered a broken hand as Australia surrendered their ODI series to Pakistan after another disastrous performance with the bat.

Australia, without Test stars Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, ended Sunday with a paltry 140 from 31.5 overs, with Connolly unable to return after retiring after seven overs due to injury. In response, Pakistan achieved the victory target with 139 balls remaining, securing an eight-wicket victory and a 2-1 triumph over the world champions. It was Pakistan’s first series win over the Aussies in Australia in 22 years.

Saim Ayub (42) and Abdullah Shafique (37) set up Pakistan before Mohammad Rizwan (30 no) and Babar Azam (28 no) got the job done.

Australia narrowly managed to reach the target of 204 runs in the first game in Melbourne before being reduced to 163 in a nine-wicket defeat by Pakistan in Adelaide. The batting performance in Perth in front of 19,781 fans was even worse, with tailman Sean Abbott top-scoring with 30 from 41 balls and opener Matt Short (22) second best.

It was the first time that no Australian batsman scored a half-century in an ODI series of three or more matches. Jake Fraser-McGurk (7), Aaron Hardie (12), Josh Inglis (7), Glenn Maxwell (0) and Marcus Stoinis (8) were all just wide as Australia fell from 56 for two to 88 for six.

Just two days after taking five for 29 in Adelaide, Haris Rauf took two for 24 after seven overs in Perth, while Shaheen Afridi (three for 32) and Naseem Shah (three for 54) were also rewarded .

Connolly suffered a painful blow to his left hand in the 17th over when he took a rising throw from Muhammad Hasnain. The 21-year-old, who was playing just his second ODI, hit a single off his next ball before seeking medical attention. Connolly left after seven injuries and underwent a scan before later returning to Optus Stadium to support his teammates from the bench.

Australia’s batting implosions have been a major talking point this series and their poor performance on Sunday will do little to appease the critics. Fraser-McGurk’s footwork was non-existent as he left Shah behind. The indecision cost Hardie dearly as his late attempt to stop a rising Afridi delivery resulted in the ball hitting his bat and flying into the second delivery.

Stand-in captain Inglis scored just seven runs from his first 18 balls before his pull attempt flew high into the air and was easily caught. Rauf claimed his first victim of the day when Short dragged him deep and Maxwell fell to Rauf for the third time in the series as he broke away and made an easy catch to reverse point.

It was left to Abbott, Adam Zampa (13) and Spencer Johnson (12 not out) to add some handy late runs. Australia had to do everything right to defend their meager total, but there wasn’t much going for them. Lance Morris dropped a tough catch in the deep as he lunged forward when Saim was on 16. Zampa dropped Shafique on the boundary with the score reading 70 for no loss.

With Pakistan on the rise, the hosts were in danger of losing an ODI by 10 wickets for the first time in Australia. But Morris (two for 24) managed a sharp catch from his own bowling to remove Shafique before dismissing Saim five balls later.