Rizwan stars with maiden ton as Pakistan post 284
Rizwan stars with maiden ton as Pakistan post 284
Rizwan made a 126-ball 115 to rescue his side from a tricky situation. © AFP
A maiden ODI from wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan helped Pakistan post a strong 284 on the board in the second ODI against Australia in Sharjah on Sunday (March 24). Rizwan, looking to make a mark in the absence of regular skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, made a 126-ball 115 to rescue his side from a tricky situation.
Pakistan didn't have the greatest of starts after opting to bat. Jhye Richardson bowled an excellent new-ball spell that saw him dismiss both the openers. Imam-ul-Haq failed to trouble the scorers and was bowled for a duck when an inswinger got through the gap between bat and pad. Haris Sohail, centurion in the last game, got going immediately with back-to-back drives off Richardson. Shan Masood also got into the groove as Pakistan hit a flurry of boundaries in the powerplay but just when they were about to take control, Richardson struck again with a leading edge proving to be Masood's downfall.
Unfortunately for Australia, Richardson left the field, injured, immediately after his opening spell. In just the 11th over of the game, the pacer dived near the deep-midwicket boundary to dislocate his shoulder. It remains to be seen if he takes further part in the series especially with the World Cup coming up.
Rizwan and Sohail then steadied the innings for a while before the left-hander edged one to the wicketkeeper off Aaron Finch. The Australian skipper had brought himself into the bowling attack to make up for Richardson's remaining overs. Umar Akmal, who had impressed in his comeback game, was the next to go as he mistimed one in tame fashion to the deep-midwicket fielder. Pakistan stuttering at this point, were then revived by a century partnership between Rizwan and the skipper Shoaib Malik.
The veteran was busy at the wicket and was aggressive against the spinners in particular. After picking up a six off Nathan Lyon, Malik pushed his strike-rate beyond 100 by fetching a boundary off Adam Zampa. Rizwan at the other end played the ideal foil as the duo slowly put Pakistan in command. Malik then targetted the 38th over bowled by Glenn Maxwell by smashing the offspinner for four successive boundaries. After 40 overs, Pakistan were ideally placed for a final onslaught having already put up 211 runs on the board.
While both Malik and Rizwan reached their landmarks, the scoring rate did dip for a while. Both batsmen in their bid to up the ante ended up finding the fielder at the long on boundary before Imad Wasim guided Pakistan to a very similar score they made in the first ODI.
Brief scores: Pakistan284/7 in 50 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 115, Shoaib Malik 60; Jhye Richardson 2-16) vs Australia.
Source : https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/107270/rizwan-stars-with-maiden-ton-as-pakistan-post-284
A maiden ODI from wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan helped Pakistan post a strong 284 on the board in the second ODI against Australia in Sharjah on Sunday (March 24). Rizwan, looking to make a mark in the absence of regular skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, made a 126-ball 115 to rescue his side from a tricky situation.
Pakistan didn't have the greatest of starts after opting to bat. Jhye Richardson bowled an excellent new-ball spell that saw him dismiss both the openers. Imam-ul-Haq failed to trouble the scorers and was bowled for a duck when an inswinger got through the gap between bat and pad. Haris Sohail, centurion in the last game, got going immediately with back-to-back drives off Richardson. Shan Masood also got into the groove as Pakistan hit a flurry of boundaries in the powerplay but just when they were about to take control, Richardson struck again with a leading edge proving to be Masood's downfall.
Unfortunately for Australia, Richardson left the field, injured, immediately after his opening spell. In just the 11th over of the game, the pacer dived near the deep-midwicket boundary to dislocate his shoulder. It remains to be seen if he takes further part in the series especially with the World Cup coming up.
Rizwan and Sohail then steadied the innings for a while before the left-hander edged one to the wicketkeeper off Aaron Finch. The Australian skipper had brought himself into the bowling attack to make up for Richardson's remaining overs. Umar Akmal, who had impressed in his comeback game, was the next to go as he mistimed one in tame fashion to the deep-midwicket fielder. Pakistan stuttering at this point, were then revived by a century partnership between Rizwan and the skipper Shoaib Malik.
The veteran was busy at the wicket and was aggressive against the spinners in particular. After picking up a six off Nathan Lyon, Malik pushed his strike-rate beyond 100 by fetching a boundary off Adam Zampa. Rizwan at the other end played the ideal foil as the duo slowly put Pakistan in command. Malik then targetted the 38th over bowled by Glenn Maxwell by smashing the offspinner for four successive boundaries. After 40 overs, Pakistan were ideally placed for a final onslaught having already put up 211 runs on the board.
While both Malik and Rizwan reached their landmarks, the scoring rate did dip for a while. Both batsmen in their bid to up the ante ended up finding the fielder at the long on boundary before Imad Wasim guided Pakistan to a very similar score they made in the first ODI.
Brief scores: Pakistan284/7 in 50 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 115, Shoaib Malik 60; Jhye Richardson 2-16) vs Australia.
Source : https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/107270/rizwan-stars-with-maiden-ton-as-pakistan-post-284
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