Adelaide Adelaide: Haris Rauf's match-winning performance in the second ODI against Australia earned him the Player of the Match award at the Adelaide Oval on Friday. Reflecting on the win, Rauf shared his thoughts and feelings. Rauf expressed the team's happiness and satisfaction, saying, “We are happy to win this game.” He said, “We have fans all over the world; we're just trying to bring them happiness.” Rauf cited familiarity with the circumstances as the main reason for his success. “I've played a lot of games for the Melbourne Stars, so I'm familiar with the conditions,” he said.
His experience in similar environments clearly played a significant role in his stellar performance. With this win in Adelaide, the Men in Green have leveled the series against Australia at 1-1. The final ODI on Sunday will be the series decider. Friday's win was also historic, Pakistan's first against Australia in Adelaide since 1996. Pakistan appeared dominant from the beginning. Mohammad Rizwan's team defeated the Australian team thanks to the efforts of Rauf and Sam Ayub. Rauf bowled brilliantly in the first innings and bowled out the Australian batting line-up for just 163 runs. During the run chase, Ayub's innings helped the Men in Green achieve the target with 23 overs to spare.
Opening for Pakistan, Sam Ayub (82 runs on 71 balls, including 5 fours and 6 sixes) and Abdullah Shafiq (64* runs on 69 balls, including 4 fours and 3 sixes) made a partnership of 137 runs. , which made victory seem almost certain. Both the opening batsmen easily dominated the Australian bowlers. Adam Zampa's wicket came too late in the 21st over, due to which the host team could not make a comeback. After Ayub was out, Babar Azam (15 runs in 20 balls, including 1 six) supported Shafiq and made a partnership of 32 runs. In the end, when only one run was needed, Babar took the game in spectacular style with a six over mid-wicket to give Pakistan a nine-wicket win. Haris Rauf was named player of the match for his exceptional performance.
Earlier, Pakistan's decision to bowl first restricted Australia to 163 runs. Matthew Short (19 runs from 15 balls, 3 fours) and Jake Fraser-McGurk (13 runs from 10 balls, 3 fours) opened for Australia, but could only manage a partnership of 21 runs before Shaheen Afridi took the first wicket. . Steven Smith (35 runs in 48 balls, 5 fours and 1 six) was Australia's top scorer. Apart from Smith, no player could go beyond 20 runs. Australia's batting appeared to be struggling, key players like Josh Inglis (18 runs on 25 balls, 2 fours), Marnus Labuschagne (6 runs on 11 balls) and Glenn Maxwell (16 runs on 21 balls, 1 six) could not play good innings. . Adam Zampa (18 runs off 21 balls, 1 four and 1 six) tried to add some runs in the end, but Shaheen Afridi dismissed him before he could do any further damage. Australia ended its innings at 163 runs without using 15 overs.
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