9th over: Australia 52-2 (Smith 12, Inglis 7) Smith guides a wide ball from Shaheen through point to the boundary after the Pakistani left-armer had him on the ropes. Australia’s number 3 still has to find his timing this afternoon.

8th over: Australia 47-2 (Smith 8, Inglis 6) Clearance from Naseem as a tight line restricts Australia to a single as Inglis drives a straight ball through the middle of the play.

7th over: Australia 46-2 (Smith 8, Inglis 5) The Australian openers are back in the pavilion early – again – but Pakistan will be hoping to make better use of their lead than they did at the MCG when Smith and Inglis scored 85 off 75 balls in what proved to be a crucial partnership. Inglis continues where he left off on Monday, with a classy drive past point to clear the mark with a boundary.

WICKET! Short c Babar b Shaheen 19 (Australia 41-2)

6th over: Australia 41-1 (Short 19, Smith 8) Smith finally strikes and doesn’t give up easily as he pushes away. A far too wide ball from Naseem relieves the pressure while Smith comes off the mark with a boundary through point. The Australian hits back-to-back boundaries to complete the over with a sublime drive past extra cover.

5th over: Australia 32-1 (Short 19, Smith 0) Short punishes Shaheen again with a pull over midwicket who sails to the boundary from the first ball and then takes few risks with his second life. Shaheen mixes it up to finish with a slower ball, but Short takes it early enough. Smith has barely seen the strike.

4th over: Australia 26-1 (Short 13, Smith 0) Short survives after Shaheen drops a sitter and bends to his knees to watch Naseem’s over. Mohammad Rizwan has his gloves in the air and calls for being caught behind the last ball of the innings, but even his teammates have little interest in supporting their skipper this time.

LEFT! Shaheen undoes much of his good work from the previous over as Short hooks a shorter ball from Naseem but hits it straight to the Pakistani fielder at deep square leg. Shaheen gets herself into a good position quickly enough, but is still moving when the ball arrives and takes the catch. To make matters worse, it is seeping into the border.

3rd over: Australia 21-1 (Short 8, Smith 0) Shaheen gets the break and there can be no argument that Fraser-McGurk refused to play the ball on its merits. But the opener has missed another opportunity to make the most of a fast start and a good wicket.

WICKET! Fraser-McGurk lbw b Shaheen 13 (Australia 13-1)

2nd over: Australia 20-0 (Short 7, Fraser-McGurk 13) Fraser-McGurk fires a trio of near-perfect shots through the outside edge for three boundaries. The first is a short shot that turns into a smash through cover, the next two more classic drives with the opener punishing everything from Naseem Shah.

1st over: Australia 8-0 (Short 7, Fraser-McGurk 1) Shaheen Shah Afridi throws the first delivery right into the block gap, but Matt Short knocks it out three past mid-off. He finishes the over with the first boundary of the day after a mistimed pull past the umpire at square leg. Jake Fraser-McGurk spoke of his intention to attack from the start, but he is approaching Shaheen with caution.

The national anthems sound, 13 players and a few referees enter the field and the house DJ turns up the volume. Shaheen Shah Afridi has the cherry in his hand and Matt Short is on strike as Pakistan look to beat Australia for the third time in the last 15 ODIs to stay alive in the three-match series.

For those already subtly eyeing the mouth-watering Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India starting on November 22 in Perth, Australia Test Marcus Harris is staking his claim for a recall in the race to replace Warner (and Smith).

The 32-year-old just reached a half-century in the tour match against India A at the MCG, which, like Jack Snape explains it so eloquentlyis perhaps the most pivotal innings of Harris’ ‘good, but never quite good enough’ career to date.

Teams

Pakistan wins the toss and chooses to field

We might like to think that we live in simpler times, at least on the cricket field, and this story of the West Indian rebels’ trip to South Africa in 1983 points to a difficult period that should not be forgotten.

The rebels planned to leave Barbados in total secrecy, but their cover was spectacularly blown by Guyanese cricket commentator and journalist Joseph “Reds” Perreira, who lifted the lid on the venture after receiving a tip from a high-ranking figure. in the West Indian game.

Racing towards their target of 204 runs in the first ODI, Australia needed just 71 with eight wickets and more than 34 overs in store when Pakistani quick Haris Rauf dismissed Steve Smith for 44. The wheels quickly fell off the Australian innings from there . , at least until Pat Cummins took command with the willow in his first ODI since lifting the Cricket World Cup trophy last year.

Pakistan will certainly be better for the run after their entire squad played their first ODI since the same 50-over showpiece in India. While the first aim today will be to level the three-match series and set up a decider in Perth, Mohammad Rizwan is also building towards hosting the ICC’s next 50-over event – the Champions Trophy – in February and March.

Preamble

Martin Pegan