Pakistan Cricket Team Vicktory in Australia

Pakistan beat Australia by 6 wickets in the second One Day International at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.

This is Pakistan's first ODI win on Australian soil in 12 years. Both teams have won one match each in this series.

Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik were the big scorers for Pakistan today, with 72 and 42 runs apiece as the team chased down Australia's 220 all out in 48.2 overs. Hafeez was awarded Man of the Match.

Speaking to the media at the event, Hafeez said, "We wanted to get that total on the board... We kept the pressure on. First with the ball, then at that stage [batting], we wanted to hit the ball for 3-4 overs."

"This is the way to move forward. We take one game at a time, we were more focused with this. Hopefully... We will do the job for Pakistan [in the next game]."

Hafeez said the team had enjoyed the support from the crowd and thanked them.

The men in green tied Australia down with spin ─ changes in pace, cutters, pace off, change ups, all restricted Australia, according to ESPN Cricinfo.

Mohammad Amir shined with three wickets to his name while Junaid Khan and Imad Wasim bagged two wickets each. Shoaib Malik and Hassan Ali have one each to their names.

Amir sent Mitchell Marsh (0), James Faulkner (19) and Pat Cummins (0) back to the pavilion in his 9.2 over spell.

Junaid Khan dismissed David Warner (16) and Usman Khawaja (17). He also performed a run-out sending Mitchell Starc home for three runs.

Steven Smith (60) and Glenn Maxwell (23) were both bowled out by Imad.

Malik showed Matthew Wade the way to the pavilion at 35 runs.

Travis Head was caught by Rizwan on Hassan's ball, he went back to the pavilion with 29 runs to his name.

Australian captain Steve Smith won the toss and chose to bat in the second of five one-day internationals against Pakistan in Melbourne on Sunday.

Pakistan are missing captain Azhar Ali, who suffered a hamstring injury in the first ODI in Brisbane on Friday.

He has been replaced by Asad Shafiq. Mohammad Hafeez is captaining the team in Azhar's absence.

In other changes, Shoaib Malik and Junaid Khan have joined the squad to substitute Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Nawaz.

Australia have made two changes to the side that beat Pakistan on Friday.

Chris Lynn is out with a neck injury and has been replaced by Usman Khawaja and fast bowler Josh Hazlewood comes in for Billy Stanlake.

Source: The Dawn News

how will Pakistan qualify directly to worldcup 2019

LAHORE: Pakistan is in serious danger of failing to qualify directly for the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) World Cup 2019 in the United Kingdom as it currently sits on eighth position in the ODI Team Rankings.

Pakistan is at eighth position with 89 points two behind Bangladesh and two ahead of the West Indies, said an ICC press release issued here. However former world champion Pakistan sets its sights on direct qualification for the World Cup 2019 when it takes on the in- form reigning world champion and number-one ranked Australia in a five-ODI series starting in Brisbane on Friday.

To, at least, maintain its pre-series ranking points, Pakistan needs to win one match of the series, while victories in more than one match will earn it crucial points. If Pakistan wins two matches, then it will join Bangladesh on 91 points but will be ranked behind its Asian rivals by a fraction.

In the scenario of Pakistan winning the series, it will move ahead of Bangladesh and, as such, will enhance its chances of qualifying directly for the event it won in Australia in 1992. On the other side of the coin, Australia will retain its pre-series points if it wins the series 4-1, while it will concede one point if it wins 3-2.

Australia can fall from the top pedestal but to make it happen, Pakistan will have to win by 4-1 or better. However, considering that Australia leads Pakistan 33-16 on a head-to-head in its backyard, including 15 wins in 19 ODIs this decade, this looks highly improbable.

The ODI team rankings, unlike the Test rankings, are updated after each match and the ODI predictor function is available here. Host England and the seven highest-ranked sides on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings as on 30 September 2017 will qualify directly for the event proper to be held from May 30 to July 15, 2019.

The four bottom-ranked sides will be joined by six teams from the ICC World Cricket League in the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 and the top two sides will complete the 10-team World Cup line-up.

Meanwhile, third-ranked India takes on fifth-ranked England in a three-ODI series starting in Pune on Sunday, January 15. While India will be aiming to narrow the gap with second-ranked South Africa, England will be targeting an upward movement. India can rise to as high as 114 points if it sweeps the series, but if the series result is reversed, then England can move up one place to fourth and India can slide to fifth.

Source:THE NEWS