Australia vs Pakistan 2nd ODI Preview

Australia may have taken a 1-0 lead in this three match series but Pakistan had plenty of opportunities to win the first game. In the first one day Pakistan were all out for 198 in just about 45.1 overs owing to tremendous bowling by Starc. In fact Starc took wickets of all those batsmen who mattered today. He struck Nasir Jamshed at 23. Then he demolished Asad Shafiq at 56. He then took Kamran Akmal for four and despite the fanfare arrival of Boom Boom Afridi in the ground, he was sent back immediately for duck by Starc. The last standing batsman who mattered was Umer Akmal, who also succumbed to Star when he was at 52. Thus ended the day for Pakistan, as bowlers coming one after the other were easy prey for the Aussies. At 198/9, Saeed Ajmal was given LBW. But when he asked for replay, he was found not to be out. However, after another two added to the total, he was finally bowled by Pattinson for 8. Australia may well be favourites to take that unassailable 2-0 lead but if the hosts are at their best, a series leveller is very much in prospect tomorrow.

Australia:

Michael Clarke hopes his batsmen will continue to show improvement against Pakistan’s spinners when the teams clash in the second one-day international in Abu Dhabi on Friday. Australia negotiated the high-profile Pakistan spin trio of Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez to the best effect to win the first one-day in Sharjah by four wickets on Tuesday, taking a 1-0 lead in three-match series. And Clarke, 31, hopes his batsmen show improvement with each game. George Bailey hit a patient 88-ball 57 not out to steer Australia home in the 49th over after Ajmal (3-30) and Hafeez (2-29) threatened to catch Australia in a spin web. Clarke was delighted with the opening win. Australia considerd the option of bringing in left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty or spinning allrounder Steve Smith for the Abu Dhabi game.

Pakistan:

Pakistan will look to improve their batting, after being bowled out in 45.1 overs with left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc taking a career best 5-42. Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez shared five wickets between them and strangled the scoring, going for 30 and 29 runs respectively in their ten overs as Australia hobbled to the target in 48.2 overs. Australia were in trouble when they lost their fourth wicket on 67 in the 18th over. However, crucial half-centuries by Clarke and George Bailey helped them secure a win. Misbah was disenchanted with his team’s performance despite including seven regular batsmen in the side. Pakistan is 1-0 down in the series and they have now lost their last two one-day series 4-1 against England here and 3-1 in Sri Lanka. Misbah believes with the decent spin bowling attack they had, he thought they were around 30 runs short. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq believes his players will be “extra motivated” to win against Australia. The Pakistanis could, however, be boosted by the return of the experienced Umar Gul who has been on extended duty in the Sri Lankan Premier League. Gul’s reputation as being one of the best ‘death bowlers’ in World Cricket could make the difference in this second match and swing those odds back in his side’s favour.

Squads for Pakistan vs Australia 2nd ODI:

Australia Squad:

MJ Clarke*, GJ Bailey, DT Christian, XJ Doherty, CJ Ferguson, DJ Hussey, MEK Hussey, MG Johnson, AC McDermott, GJ Maxwell, JL Pattinson, SPD Smith, MA Starc, MS Wade†, DA Warner

Pakistan Squad:

Misbah-ul-Haq*, Abdur Rehman, Aizaz Cheema, Anwar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Imran Farhat, Junaid Khan,Kamran Akmal†, Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal

For more cricinfo: Australia tour of UAE 2012