Pakistan clinch the ODI series 2-1 as Shaheen and Shadab down Australia in Lahore
Pakistan held their nerve in a low-scoring decider at the Gaddafi Stadium to beat Australia by four wickets on Thursday and take the one-day series 2-1. Shadab Khan and Abdul Samad saw the hosts home after a chase that should have been routine threatened to unravel, finishing things off with 109 balls to spare.
It was a result that turned the series back in Pakistan’s favour after Australia had hit back to level it in Lahore earlier in the week. For a home side that has had a rough run in the format, sealing it in front of their own crowd carried some weight.
Shaheen sets the tone with the new ball
Batting first, Australia never built any momentum. Shaheen Afridi struck in the very first over, having Matt Short caught at mid-on for a duck, and the visitors spent the rest of the innings playing catch-up. Haris Rauf chipped in and Abrar Ahmed kept the squeeze on through the middle as Australia were bowled out for 157, their lowest ODI total in Pakistan, inside 42 overs.
Captain Josh Inglis was the one batter to offer real resistance, top-scoring with 65 off 71 balls before Shaheen had him too. Around him the innings kept losing wickets at the wrong moments, and 157 always looked light on a surface that was doing a bit but not misbehaving.
Pakistan wobble before Shadab steadies the ship
The chase was not the formality the target suggested. Babar Azam looked Pakistan’s most assured batter before Matthew Kuhnemann’s left-arm spin pitched on leg and clipped the top of off to bowl him. Maaz Sadaqat made a brisk 27 off 26, and when Pakistan slipped to 112 for 6 the decider was suddenly alive.
That was as good as it got for Australia. Shadab Khan and Abdul Samad refused to give them another opening, knocking off the runs in an unbeaten stand that calmed the home dressing room and got Pakistan over the line with plenty to spare.
A series win without the big three
Australia came into the white-ball leg without Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, all rested as the board manages workloads with bigger assignments on the horizon. That context does not wipe out the result, but it frames it. Pakistan still had to win the moments that mattered, and across three games they did so twice.
For Pakistan, the takeaway is a lower-order that found a way under pressure and a new-ball spell from Shaheen that set up the whole night. For Australia, Inglis aside, the batting will be the talking point on the flight home. A second-string side or not, they were beaten by a team that simply wanted the series more.
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