Australia U16 beat Pakistan U16 in fourth ODI to level series

Lahore: Australia U16 won the fourth 50-over-a-side match of the five-match series against Pakistan U16 by a 27-run margin at the ICC Academy in Dubai on Wednesday. 

The series is now tied at 2-2 with the decider to be played at the same venue on Friday, PCB reported.

Chasing 279 runs, Pakistan were bowled out for 251 in the final over of the innings. Captain Umer Eman fought hard with a 74-run innings that included eight fours. The left-handed Umer added 103 runs for the fifth wicket with Rizwan Mehmood, who contributed 51 off 65 balls with the help of seven fours.

The two had come together after Pakistan had been reduced to 55 for four in the 13th over.

Tail-ender Faisal Akram also batted tenaciously at the backend of Pakistan’s chase scoring 39 off as many deliveries.

Jamison Murphy, who captained the side today, enjoyed a great day with the bat and the ball. He was the star performer with four wickets for 25 runs in six overs after contributing 56 (41b, 7x4, 2x6) in Australia’s batting effort.

Nivethan Radhakrishnan took three wickets in his quota of 10 overs.

Earlier, opener Shobit Singh’s century helped Australia (put into bat by Pakistan) reach a formidable total of 278 for eight in the allotted 50 overs. Shobit was dismissed in the 47th over of the innings after scoring 107 runs off 142 balls. His innings included 13 fours.

Shobit added 99 runs for the opening wicket with Ryley Smith (59 off 54 balls, nine fours and one six).

For Pakistan, fast bowler Ahmed Khan was once again the pick of the bowlers. The right-armer took three-wickets in his seven overs. Ahmed has now collected 11 wickets in four matches, besides hitting a half-century.

Fast bowler Farhad Khan and off-spinner Aaliyan Mehmood claimed two wickets each.

Scores in brief:

Australia U16 beat Pakistan U16 by 27 runs

Australia U16 278-8, 50 overs (Shobit Singh 107, Ryley Smith 59, Jamison Murphy 56; Ahmed Khan 3-53, Farhad Khan 2-46, Aaliyan Mehmood 2-46)

Pakistan U16 251, 49.5 overs (Umer Eman 74, Rizwan Mehmood 51, Faisal Akram 39; Jamison Murphy 4-25, Nivethan Radhakrishnan 3-32)

Next match – fifth 50-over match, Friday, 18 January.