- AUS VS PAK, 4TH ODI IN SYDNEY
Australia thrash Pakistan by 86 runs to seal the ODI series at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Sunday.
The visitors downfall in the do-or-die match was courtesy poor fielding, where the Men in Green dropped six catches to let hosts scored a mammoth 353 for the loss of six wickets in their allotted 50 overs.
Opener David Warner finished the innings with the top score after scoring 130 off 119 with the help of 11 fours and two sixes.
He was well supported by lower order hitting from Glenn Maxwell (78 off 44) and Travis Head (51 off 36) as hosts posted a massive total on the board.
For Pakistan, young pacer Hasan Ali registered his career-best figure of five for 52 in his 10 overs.
Chasing 354 to stay alive in the series, visitors had an ideal start from opener Sharjeel Khan, who scored a quickfire 74 off 47 balls, which included 10 fours and three sixes.
Once he got out, the Men in Green could not manage to cope up with increasing run rate and were bowled out for 267 in the 44th over.
For Australia, leg-spinner Adam Zampa and pacer Josh Hazlewood picked three wickets each.
Presentation:
David Warner: Yea absolutely loved it. It was quite slow tonight. It’s always special to put your team in strong position. Credit to them [Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head] for scoring quickly. They had the balls in their range, and they smashed it for some quick runs.
Azhar Ali: Yea I think it was always going to be a tough chase. In the field we missed some opportunities. We fielded below par and that’s why they scored that many runs. If we would have hold on to our chances, things could have been different. Around 300 was chasable, but I think we let them score too many runs. We will come hard in the last match and try to finish the series on a high.
Steve Smith: It was pretty special. I thought we started very well. David Warner was fantastic at the top, so was [Glenn] Maxwell and [Travis] Head. When you score 350 plus, you don’t lose many matches. Hopefully we can put another performance like this in Adelaide in a few days’ time.
