Pakistan win by 6 wickets

Pakistan beat Australia by 6 wickets in the second One Day International at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.

This is Pakistan's first ODI win on Australian soil in 12 years. Both teams have won one match each in this series.

Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik were the big scorers for Pakistan today, with 72 and 42 runs apiece as the team chased down Australia's 220 all out in 48.2 overs. Hafeez was awarded Man of the Match.

Speaking to the media at the event, Hafeez said, "We wanted to get that total on the board... We kept the pressure on. First with the ball, then at that stage [batting], we wanted to hit the ball for 3-4 overs."

"This is the way to move forward. We take one game at a time, we were more focused with this. Hopefully... We will do the job for Pakistan [in the next game]."

Hafeez said the team had enjoyed the support from the crowd and thanked them.

The men in green tied Australia down with spin ─ changes in pace, cutters, pace off, change ups, all restricted Australia, according to ESPN Cricinfo.

Mohammad Amir shined with three wickets to his name while Junaid Khan and Imad Wasim bagged two wickets each. Shoaib Malik and Hassan Ali have one each to their names.

Amir sent Mitchell Marsh (0), James Faulkner (19) and Pat Cummins (0) back to the pavilion in his 9.2 over spell.

Junaid Khan dismissed David Warner (16) and Usman Khawaja (17). He also performed a run-out sending Mitchell Starc home for three runs.

Steven Smith (60) and Glenn Maxwell (23) were both bowled out by Imad.

Malik showed Matthew Wade the way to the pavilion at 35 runs.

Travis Head was caught by Rizwan on Hassan's ball, he went back to the pavilion with 29 runs to his name.

Australian captain Steve Smith won the toss and chose to bat in the second of five one-day internationals against Pakistan in Melbourne on Sunday.

Pakistan are missing captain Azhar Ali, who suffered a hamstring injury in the first ODI in Brisbane on Friday.

He has been replaced by Asad Shafiq. Mohammad Hafeez is captaining the team in Azhar's absence.

In other changes, Shoaib Malik and Junaid Khan have joined the squad to substitute Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Nawaz.

Australia have made two changes to the side that beat Pakistan on Friday.

Chris Lynn is out with a neck injury and has been replaced by Usman Khawaja and fast bowler Josh Hazlewood comes in for Billy Stanlake.

Source: The Dawn News

Moonis Elahi Says Cricket Unites Pakistan No Matter What

Cricket is in our blood and whenever the Pakistani team lashes their opponents, the country is seen celebrating. The worst times are when Pakistan loses to India and we have an ugly history about it. TV sets broken, riots in most parts of cities and people even died due to heart failure when the country lost to its arch rival. Cricket stars are undeniably more popular in Pakistan than any other famous personality and Imran Khan's political success is purely due to his cricket history. Still known popularly as 'Kaptaan' meaning Captain was an icon of the nation and our young politicians Moonis Elahi, Hamza Shahbaz, Bilawal Zardari, Maryam Nawaz and many others still respect him as the person who won Pakistan its first cricket world cup.

The current Pakistan vs Australia test series in Melbourne is being closely watched in Pakistan by cricket lovers. Losing the first match to Australia spread despair across the country but the nation still hopes Pakistan will make a comeback in the second match. The team is exercising and getting in better shape to give the host country a tough second match. Arif Ali, a young cricket fan of Lahore says he was deeply saddened by the loss of first match and is praying they (Pakistani team) will win the second one. Cricket matches not only unite the nation for a single cause, they are also a source for people to remember Allah especially when the Pakistani team is losing.