Australia’s captain Aaron Finch played a knock of 153 not out to guide his team to a comfortable eight-wicket win over Pakistan in the second ODI of the five-match series on Sunday (local time).
In pursuit of 285, the skipper was in complete control from the very start as he opened the innings with a target of 285 to chase.
Finch struck 11 fours and six sixes as he recorded his highest-ever score in the ODI format. He was involved in an opening stand of 209 along with Usman Khawaja, the 28th highest partnership for the first wicket in ODI history. Khawaja was dismissed for 88 by Yasir Shah in the 37th over.
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Glenn Maxwell departed early after scoring 19 runs, but the result was never in doubt after a terrific opening stand. Finch scored his second consecutive century against Pakistan, taking his team comfortably over the line.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan scored his maiden ODI century with a fine knock that was propelled with eleven fours. He managed to score 115 runs but his stay in the middle was ended by Nathan Coulter-Nile in the 47th over of the innings.
This knock by the batsman rescued Pakistan as at one stage they were suffering from a tricky situation after being reduced to 112 for four.
He was involved in a 127-run stand with skipper Shoaib Malik (60), but the hosts were not able to post a challenging score on a good batting surface. The team was able to post 284 runs on the board.
Australia takes on Pakistan in the third ODI of the five-match series on Wednesday, March 27 at Abu Dhabi.