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Following his side's win over Pakistan in the first ODI, Australian captain Pat Cummins said that the match got a bit tighter than the team would have liked and the usage of eight bowlers was simply to keep things interesting.
An ice-cold cameo from skipper Cummins helped Aussies overcome the Pakistani pace trio of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf as they secured a two-wicket win over Pakistan in the first ODI of the three-match series at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Speaking at the post-match presentation, Cummins said, "Tonight we got it done, always much prefer sitting in the changing room. Wonderful match but got a bit tighter than we would have liked. Really happy with the way the guys bowled, Starcy was terrific at the top and the others bowled really well. Trying to keep it interesting (on trying eight bowlers), Marnus (Labuschagne) is always in my ear so he had to have an over, he got one wicket. With this being an ODI and with the conditions, got plenty of allrounders, might as well use them. For three-quarters we were really good, try and find some partnerships, looking to play aggressively and sometimes it may not work, but think still room to try and find a couple of partnerships." Australia won the toss and opted to bowl first. Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals, with skipper Mohammed Rizwan (44 in 71 balls, with two fours and a six) and Babar Azam (37 in 44 balls, with four boundaries) scoring runs among recognised batters. Naseem Shah (40 in 39 balls, with one four and four sixes) and Shaheen Afridi (24 in 19 balls, with three fours and a six) put up a fight as well, taking the side to 203/10 in 46.4 overs. Starc (3/33) was the pick of the bowlers for Australia. Cummins also took 2/39 in 9.4 overs. Adam Zampa was also impressive, taking 2/64 in his 10 overs. In the run-chase of 204 runs, Australia was two down at 28 runs. An 85-run partnership between Steve Smith (44 in 46 balls, with six fours) and Josh Inglis (49 in 42 balls, with six fours and three sixes) guided Aussies out of trouble. But Pakistani bowlers once again made a comeback, reducing Australia to 185/8. However, skipper Cummins (32* in 31 balls, with four boundaries) took Australia tovictory with over 16 overs to spare. Starc took home the 'Player of the Match' for his spell and Australia is 1-0 up in the series. (ANI)
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