Australia beat Pakistan by just 203 runs in the first ODI played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Monday.

Batted first by the hosts in the series opener, the Green Shirts continued to lose wickets at regular intervals.

Debutant opener Saim Ayub (1) was the first to bite the dust when Mitchell Starc bowled him in the third over. His opening partner Abdullah Shafique also fell victim to Starc after playing a gritty 12-run knock.

Babar Azam, who returned to the national team’s eleven after being rested in the remaining two Tests of the three-match series against England, fell to Adam Zampa at the age of 37.

Kamran Ghulam and Salman Ali Agha also failed to hold their own and were dismissed after making meager contributions of five and 12 runs respectively.

Although captain Mohammad Rizwan tried hard, he too failed to go big and got out after scoring 44 runs.

With Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed in the 24th over, Naseem Shah (40) and Irfan Khan (22) helped the national team take the score past the 200-run mark.

However, with Haris Rauf’s (0), the Green Shirts were finally limited to 203 runs.

For Australia, Starc bagged three wickets, while captain Pat Cummins and Zamba dismissed two batsmen each.

It is worth mentioning that Pakistan is playing its first ODI since its 93-run defeat against England in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

The national team had a bad run at the mega event and failed to qualify for the semi-final.

Australia, on the other hand, just won their away series 3-2 over England.

The two countries have met 108 times in ODIs and the five-time World Cup winners boast a dominant record with 70 wins, compared to 34 for the Green Shirts.

The Kangaroos have an equally impressive record at home in ODIs, having won 37 of 56 matches, while Pakistan claimed 17 wins.

Lineups

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Salman Ali Agha (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain.

Australia: Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis (wk), Marnus Labuschagne, Aaron Hardie, Glenn Maxwell, Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.