Australia beat Pakistan again by 8 wickets, leading 2-0

SHARJAH: Australia thrashed Pakistan again and by the same margin of eight wickets to take a 2-0 lead with three matches remaining in the five-match One-day International series here at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday night.

Chasing a daunting target of 285, they completed the victory with ease in 47.5 overs for the loss of two wickets.

Captain Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja recorded a big opening partnership of 209 runs to laid the winning  foundation for Australia.

Finch remained not out on 153, his highest ODI score, which he made off 143 balls with 11 fours and six sixes while Khawaja scored 88 from 109 balls with eight boundaries.

Earlier, wicket-keeping batsman Mohammad Rizwan hit a maiden hundred to guide Pakistan to 284-7 after his captain Shoaib Malik won the toss and elected to bat first.

Rizwan knocked 11 boundaries in his 115 total as Pakistan  once again failed to crack the 300-mark on a flat Sharjah stadium pitch.

Rizwan, only playing because regular keeper and skipper Sarfraz Ahmed has been rested for the series -- added 52 for the third wicket with Haris Sohail (34) and an invaluable 127 for the fifth wicket with stand-in captain Shoaib Malik.

The next match, the third one-day international between the two teams will be played at Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

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Australia win by 8 wickets with 13 balls remaining

Australia 285/2 in 47.5 overs

Australia complete chase in 47.5 overs

Aaron Finch reaches 150, his highest ODI score

At the end of over 47: Australia 271/2

At the end of over 46: Australia 260/2

At the end of over 45: Australia 255/2

At the end of over 44: Australia 251/2

At the end of over 43: Australia 249/2

At the end of over 42: Australia 243/2

Glenn Maxwell OUT (run out by Haris Sohail, 19   )

At the end of over 41: Australia 240/1

At the end of over 40: Australia 235/1

At the end of over 39: Australia 220/1

At the end of over 38: Australia 214/1

At the end of over 37: Australia 209/1

Usman Khawaja OUT (c Imam-ul-Haq b Yasir Shah 88)

At the end of over 36: Australia 209/0

At the end of over 35: Australia 204/0

At the end of over 34: Australia 201/0

At the end of over 33: Australia 192/0

At the end of over 32: Australia 185/0

At the end of over 31: Australia 181/0

Finch scores second successive hundred in the series

Aaron Finch completes his 13th ODI hundred

At the end of over 30: Australia 175/0

At the end of over 29: Australia 170/0

At the end of over 28: Australia 162/0

At the end of over 27: Australia 157/0

At the end of over 26: Australia 156/0

At the end of over 25: Australia 152/0

At the end of over 24: Australia 147/0

At the end of over 23: Australia 140/0

At the end of over 22: Australia 135/0

At the end of over 21: Australia 122/0

At the end of over 20: Australia 120/0

At the end of over 19: Australia 103/0

At the end of over 18: Australia 97/0

At the end of over 17: Australia 92/0

At the end of over 16: Australia 81/0

At the end of over 15: Australia 72/0

At the end of over 14: Australia 70/0

At the end of over 13: Australia 66/0

At the end of over 12: Australia 58/0

At the end of over 11: Australia 53/0

At the end of over 10: Australia 48/0

At the end of over 9: Australia 46/0

At the end of over 8: Australia 34/0

At the end of over 7: Australia 33/0

At the end of over 6: Australia 31/0

At the end of over 5: Australia 25/0

At the end of over 4: Australia 13/0

At the end of over 3: Australia 10/0

At the end of over 2: Australia 9/0

At the end of over 1: Australia 0/0

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SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates: Wicket-keeping batsman Mohammad Rizwan hit a maiden hundred to guide Pakistan to 284-7 in the second one-day international against Australia in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday.

The 30-year-old knocked 11 boundaries in his 115 total as Pakistan -- who won the toss and batted -- once again failed to crack the 300-mark on a flat Sharjah stadium pitch.

Rizwan, only playing because regular keeper and skipper Sarfraz Ahmed has been rested for the series -- added 52 for the third wicket with Haris Sohail (34) and an invaluable 127 for the fifth wicket with stand-in captain Shoaib Malik.

Australia lead the five-match series 1-0 after winning the first game, played at the same venue, by eight wickets on Friday.

Pakistan lost opener Imam-ul-Haq without scoring off the fifth ball of the innings from fast bowler Jhye Richardson.

Shan Masood (19) and Sohail -- who scored his maiden hundred in the first game on Friday -- took the total to 35 when Richardson struck again, getting Masood caught at short mid-wicket.

But Richardson took 2-16 in his five overs and fell awkwardly in the outfield and left the field in the 11th over.

nitial reports suggests he dislocated his shoulder and is doubtful for the remaining three matches.

Rizwan, though, lifted Pakistan after Umar Akaml fell for 16, caught off spinner Nathan Lyon.

Rizwan improved on his previous best of 75 not out, against Zimbabwe at Harare four years ago and completed his hundred with a single off 114 balls. He fell to Nathan Coulter-Nile to a boundary catch.

Nile finished with 2-52.

Malik also smashed three boundaries and a six before falling in the 45th over.

Pakistan replaced experienced fast bowler Mohammad Amir with rookie Mohammad Hasnain for his first match while Australia remained unchanged.

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At the end of over 50: 284/7

At the end of over 49: 271/7

Faheem Ashraf OUT (c Handscomb b Coulter-Nile 14)

At the end of over 48: 258/6

At the end of over 47: 255/6

Mohammad Rizwan OUT (c Maxwell b Coulter-Nile 115)

At the end of over 46: 246/5

At the end of over 45: 239/5

Shoaib Malik OUT (c Maxwell b Zampa 60)

At the end of over 44: 236/4

Mohammad Rizwan completes  maiden  hundred in his 29th ODI

At the end of over 43: 230/4

At the end of over 42: 222/4

At the end of over 41: 216/4

At the end of over 40: 211/4

At the end of over 39: 206/4

At the end of over 38: 203/4

At the end of over 37: 197/4

At the end of over 36: 193/4

At the end of over 35: 188/4

At the end of over 34: 182/4

At the end of over 33: 170/4

At the end of over 32: 163/4

At the end of over 31: 158/4

At the end of over 30: 154/4

At the end of over 29: 150/4

At the end of over 28: 140/4

Mohammad Rizwan completes his 4th ODI fifty

At the end of over 27: 136/4

At the end of over 26: 129/4

At the end of over 25: 127/4

At the end of over 24: 115/4

At the end of over 23: 113/4

Umar Akmal, OUT (c Handscomb b Lyon 16)

At the end of over 22: 111/3

At the end of over 21: 109/3

At the end of over 20: 100/3

At the end of over 19: 95/3

At the end of over 18: 89/3

Haris Sohail OUT (c Carey b Finch 34)

At the end of over 17: 86/2

At the end of over 16: 83/2

At the end of over 15: 81/2

At the end of over 14: 75/2

At the end of over 13: 70/2

At the end of over 12: 65/2

At the end of over 11: 58/2

At the end of over 10: 49/2

At the end of over 9: 43/2

At the end of over 8: 42/2

At the end of over 7: 35/2

Shan Masood OUT (c Marsh b JA Richardson 19)

At the end of over 6: 35/1

At the end of over 5:   26/1

At the end of over 4: 20/1

At the end of over 3: 10/1

At the end of over 2: 1/1

At the end of over 1: 0/1

JA Richardson to Imam-ul-Haq, no run

JA Richardson to Imam-ul-Haq, OUT ( b JA Richardson 0)

JA Richardson to Imam-ul-Haq, no run

JA Richardson to Imam-ul-Haq, no run

JA Richardson to Imam-ul-Haq, no run

JA Richardson to Imam-ul-Haq, no run

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Sharjah: Pakistan have won the toss and opted to bat first against the super-fit Australian team in a bid to put a huge total on the score board on a batting wicket.

Pakistan made one change in the squad and included PSL sensation Mohammad Hasnain in place of Mohammad Amir.

Playing XI

Pakistan:

Shan Masood, Imam ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik (Capt), Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Rizwan (W), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Abbas

Australia:

Aaron Finch (C), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (W), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa

Match preview

Pakistan batsman Haris Sohail said that morale is high in the camp despite the defeat in the first ODI, but admitted that Australia are a changed side after their series win against India.

Sohail cracked his maiden ODI century, but Pakistan were unable to defend 280/5 in the first ODI at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. It was an anomaly, as Pakistan’s score has traditionally been a defendable one in Sharjah, where scores of 280-plus had been chased down only once before.

But Australia captain Aaron Finch broke a run drought with his 12th one-day hundred and forged a 172-run second-wicket stand with Shaun Marsh, as Australia aced the chase, with eight wickets in hand.

"We fought well to take the match to the second-last over. We will do more preparation,” Sohail said ahead of the second ODI on Sunday, 24 March. “The morale is high, but Australia have come with confidence after winning the series in India."

One of the aspects Pakistan would want to work on after that opening defeat is wicket-taking. Their bowlers just took two wickets in an Australian chase that spanned 49 overs. Finch and Usman Khawaja first shared a 63-run stand for the first wicket, before Marsh joined his captain to put the game beyond Pakistan.

Finch eventually fell in the 43rd over, and even that was down to him going after the bowlers and throwing his hands at everything they sent down. Marsh and Peter Handscomb then finished the job off with an unbroken partnership of 46.

"Overall, our bowlers bowled well, but wickets were needed and that would have made a difference," Sohail said. "I think credit must be given to Finch and Marsh [for] the way they played, they took the game [away] from us."

As for Sohail, who made an excellent 101* off 115 balls to guide Pakistan to a competitive total, he said he enjoyed the experience of bringing up his maiden ton, although the defeat ended up raining on his parade.

"When you score a hundred, it’s a great feeling,” he said. “But had we won, it would have been a different feeling, more enjoyable."