Pakistan vs Australia, 1st ODI Match 2026

Pakistan won the first ODI against Australia by five wickets at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first, which proved to be effective for them. The Australian batsmen could not build any big partnership. Young Pakistani all-rounder Arafat Minas bowled brilliantly, taking 5 wickets in 10 overs and conceding just 32 runs.

The main contributions for Australia were Matthew Short’s 55 and Matt Renshaw’s 61. However, they were all out for 200 in 44.1 overs. Chasing a target of 201, Pakistan’s innings started slowly. After losing the early wickets, Babar Azam and Ghazi Ghori put on a 127-run stand for the third wicket to take the match to Pakistan. Babar scored 69 and Ghori 65.

Arafat Minas was unstoppable with 18*, while Salman Agha and Abdul Samad also added support. Pakistan achieved the target in 42.3 overs and won by five wickets. The key features of the match were Pakistan’s accurate bowling, important partnerships in the chase and disciplined fielding, and Arafat Minas was named Man of the Match for this. The win symbolized Pakistan’s strong start to the series.

Source: bhalobet.news