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That's it from us, Soorya and Rajarshi, as we sign off having completed our coverage of what has been a truly remarkable game. The series decider takes place on Saturday on the same venue, so expect another cracking contest, and as per usual, live coverage brought to you from us! Goodbye for now!
Aaron Finch's dismissal early on, leg-before to an in-swinging full-toss from Shaheen Afridi after the Australian skipper lost the toss and his side were put in to bat, brought along a rampant 162-run partnership between Travis Head and Ben McDermott, brought up in 24 overs. It was McDermott who was more severe on the Pakistan pacers early on, and as soon as the slower bowlers came on, Travis Head dug in to the action. Head, who was at his ballistic best once again, carrying his sublime form from the last game in which he got a hundred, was 11 away from another when he succumbed to some pressure exerted by the bowlers in the two overs prior, top-edging Zahid Mahmood to Shaheen at short-fine. McDermott continued on his merry way and went on to passionately celebrate his maiden ODI hundred in the 33rd over. Just as the Pakistan camp felt they could claw their way back in the game after dismissing McDermott in the 35th over and then Labuschagne, who also got 59 having played second fiddle for the initial part, in the 41st over, onslaughts from Marcus Stoinis and later, Sean Abbott meant that the Australian total read 348 at the end of the allotted 50 overs. A flurry of wickets at the end from Shaheen Afridi, including the ones of Stoinis and Abbott, meant that the left-arm speedster turned out to be Pakistan's best bowler today. Pakistan could not have asked for a better start to the chase, with Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq stitching a 100-run opening partnership. The duo seemed the struggle a bit early on, but once they were set, the runs kept coming. Babar walked in once Fakhar was dismissed by a wily off-cutter from Stoinis, and he put on an absolute chasing masterclass. The fact that he kept a strike rate of over 100 throughout his innings without actually finding the fence too often makes it look even more special. He had Imam-ul-Haq for company for a bulk of his innings, which made his job that much easier. Imam went on to notch up his second successive ODI hundred, but much like last game, he departed soon after. Rizwan then joined Babar for a 50-run partnership in which the wicket-keeper merely contributed a quarter of the runs. Babar's, and then Rizwan's dismissal may have stunned the vociferous Lahore crowd into silence and sent a few jitters in the Pakistan camp, but Khushdil Shah came in with purpose. The equation wasn't too tall to begin with, and the left-handed all-rounder pounced upon anything in the slot and dispatched it as far as he could. Khushdil's phenomenal effort at the end meant Pakistan finished a herculean task with the comfort of one over left unused, with Iftikhar finishing things off with a hit over Nathan Ellis' head for four.
Babar Azam, Pakistan Captain and Player Of The Match: The plan was to stitch partnerships, like the one between Fakhar and Imam. It becomes easy to bat at the end with wickets, we utilized the first 10 overs well. We gave 20 more runs than we would have wanted. We could have bowled better, we bowled well at the death, but weren't good in the middle overs as we went for too many runs. Definitely (on whether he feels pleased to have scored a hundred at his hometown) this is my hometown, and this is a proud moment for me. The last game we had a 300-run chase, which we couldn't complete, but the belief was there that we are capable of doing so, and we did it, it was a complete team effort.
Aaron Finch (Australia Captain): That opening partnership set the foundation of the game for Pakistan. When you go 100 for none down the rest of the guys can play with freedom and I thought Babar batted brilliantly. When you lose the toss it doesn't make much of a difference (regarding the dew). There was a bit more dew the other night but the wicket played really well throughout the game and it was a beautiful one-day wicket. I thought we did quite well with the ball - there were times when Pakistan took risks with the ball. It can come off and it's hard to restrict the runs, keep them on strike and cut down the boundaries. They played really well.
Imam-ul-Haq: Thanks to the Almighty and my parents. It's all a process - I want to back my game and back myself. Glad that it all went well. It all comes down to self-belief - we knew we can chase that and once you get to the middle-overs, we knew that we could get through them and chase that. There's always a margin for improvement for all batters and I really appreciate the criticism. We need to work on our strike-rates but we knew what we had to do. We wanted to back ourselves and I'm glad it worked today. (On his equation with Babar) Everybody knows about our friendship - it's been there from 2009. We back each other and have that belief that we can win matches. When you play so much cricket and know each other's strengths and weaknesses it works out well. Really needed that win for the team. They're a very good batting and fielding side - we wanted to come out on the right side today. We need the win day after tomorrow and will be working towards that.
Khushdil Shah, Pakistan's best at the last!!! He has watched the ball off the hands like a hawk all along! Length ball, slower ball, anything in the slot has absolutely disappeared! 27 off 17, and he gives Iftikhar the pleasure to finish things off! Highest successful run-chase for Pakistan in One Day Internationals, and what a time to do so! Series on the line, middle-order under scrutiny, Babar Azam under criticism for being unable to bat longer, all of which have been put to rest, for now! Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman gave the hosts the perfect start, Babar took it up some notches, running hard, finding gaps with utmost precision, matches by some bravado and grit from Imam! Australia had one moment through that innings where they felt like they were in it when they took Babar, and then Rizwan's wicket, but then, up stepped Khushdil Shah, and what a destructive cameo he played! Presentations coming up in a short while!
49
overs
352/4score
2
1
4
6
1
4
runs
Khushdil Shah
27(17)
Iftikhar Ahmed*
11(7)
Nathan Ellis
1/69
48.6 Nathan Ellis to Iftikhar Ahmed, FOUR! GAME SET AND MATCH, PAKISTAN! Full and shaping into middle and leg, Iftikhar gets forward and simply lofts it straight over the bowler's head to wrap up the contest in style with a boundary. What a clinical run chase this has been by the hosts and aren't they elated - it's Pakistan's highest successful run chase in ODIs as they win by 6 wickets with an over to spare!
48.5 Nathan Ellis to Khushdil Shah, full and angling into the off stump, Khushdil makes room for a push towards mid-on's left as he hares across the pitch to level the scores!
48.4 Nathan Ellis to Khushdil Shah, SIX! GONE INTO ORBIT! Picks the slower one as he duly anticipates it, in the slot outside off as Khushdil launches it with a still base to send a mighty hit way back over long on for a maximum! 101 metres if you don't mind!
48.3 Nathan Ellis to Khushdil Shah, FOUR! EASILY DONE! Wretched high full toss from around the wicket, wide of off and Khushdil sticks his bat out and powers it over the covers even as he stands on his toes. The ball goes racing along to the boundary ropes and the height seems just about fine on this one.
48.2 Nathan Ellis to Iftikhar Ahmed, length delivery speared down leg, Iftikhar picks it up off his pads but only as far as the fielder at long leg who picks it up on the bounce. Just a single!
48.1 Nathan Ellis to Iftikhar Ahmed, slower full one outside off, Iftikhar drives forward through the covers and picks up a couple of runs with the sweeper picking up to his right.
Not on Khushdil's watch can Australia sneak through with this game! He got two deliveries in the slot, and that's all he needed to bring the equation back in his side's favour! Thankfully for the visitors, Abbott closed the over out brilliantly, three pin-point blockhole-length deliveries. 15 off 12 needed now! What a thriller we have on our hands!
48
overs
334/4score
0
4
6
1
1
0
runs
Khushdil Shah*
16(14)
Iftikhar Ahmed
4(4)
Sean Abbott
0/74
47.6 Sean Abbott to Khushdil Shah, right into the blockhole on the off-stump, Khushdil crouches low but can only jam it out to the bowler's left. Outstanding delivery but a big over for Pakistan!
47.5 Sean Abbott to Iftikhar Ahmed, very full and tailing into the off-stump as he aims for the yorker, Iftikhar dinks it out off the inner half for a single towards short fine leg.
47.4 Sean Abbott to Khushdil Shah, into the blockhole on off this time, Khushdil digs it out on the full and shovels it to long off for a single.
47.3 Sean Abbott to Khushdil Shah, SIX! HUGEEE! At full pace but in the slot outside off, Khushdil swings across the line and launches a towering hit way over the mid-wicket fence for a sumptuous maximum. That made a cracking sound as it left the blade.
47.2 Sean Abbott to Khushdil Shah, FOUR! POUNDED! On a good length and well outside off as he takes pace off, Khushdil gets across and flat-bats it with all might over the bowler's head for a much-needed boundary!