Rawalpindi [Pakistan], May 31 (ANI): Pakistan spinner Arafat Minhas made history, becoming the first-ever bowler from his team to take a five-wicket haul on ODI debut.
Minhas achieved this milestone during his side’s first ODI match against Australia at Rawalpindi, taking 5/32 in 10 overs to wrap up Australia for a sub-par score.
Before this, Zakir Hussain (4/19 against New Zealand at Peshawar in 1984), held the best figures for Pakistan on ODI debut.
Coming to the match, Pakistan won the toss and elected to field first, reducing Australia to 68/4, with Matthew Short (55 in 61 balls, with six fours) and Matt Renshaw (61 in 63 balls, with five fours and a six) putting on a 55-run stand for the fifth wicket to stage a fight-back.
Matthew Kuhnemann (24 in 40 balls, with two fours) contributed valuable runs from the bottom as Australia could make just 200 in 44.1 overs, with Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf getting one wicket each, and Abrar Ahmed also getting two.
The chase of 201 runs was driven by fifties from Babar Azam (69 in 94 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Ghazi Ghori (65 in 92 balls, with eight overs) as Pakistan chased the target with 45 balls and five wickets in hand.
On Tuesday, the second ODI of the three-match series will be held at Lahore. (ANI)
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