Aussie horror show in 20-year low

A decision to prioritise the Test series left Australia “exposed” against Pakistan who ran through the home team’s second-choice batting line-up and belted the bowlers to record a drought-breaking ODI series win as the home team hit an all-time low.

On a night of firsts, good ones for the tourists and bad ones for the locals, Pakistan ended a 22-year drought of series wins in Australia while for the first time in Australia’s rich ODI history no batter reached 50 in a three-match, bilateral series.

That’s a history which stretches back nearly 50 years and Australian legend Adam Gilchrist questioned the worth of bilateral 50-over series among a cluttered calendar which prompted the second-choice local line-up which also lost Cooper Connolly for the upcoming T20 series after he suffered a broken hand.

With just 27 games experience between four of the top five Australian batters, the home team was bowled out for just 140, the lowest ODI total against Pakistan since 2002.

All-rounder Sean Abbott top-scored with 30, Glenn Maxwell, one of only two of Australia’s World Cup winning side playing, out for his second duck in three innings while Jake Fraser-McGurk failed his third audition to live up to the hype he created.

With little to defend the Australian bowling attack, including Spencer Johnson in ODI number two and Lance Morris (2-24) playing his third game of top-level cricket since February bowled well but couldn’t contain the Pakistan line-up.

Openers Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique, who put on 137 last Friday, combined for 84 in the run-chase which took just 27 overs despite a two-wicket over from Morris which, along with the performance of Johnson, were highlights on an otherwise dismal Sunday afternoon, Babar Azam hitting a four to seal the eight-wicket win.

Across the past two ODIs, Australia lost 27 wickets for 511 runs, Pakistan 514 for the loss of just 13, a smashing by any measure, made better for the tourists by the fact their opponents are the reigning World Cup champions.

In commentary for Fox Sports, former England captain Michael Vaughan said the Australian battling line-up was left “exposed” by the decision to prioritise the Test with more questions than answers about those hoping to get more international exposure in the near future.

The fourth over exit of Fraser-McGurk was the catalyst for the collapse with a second-gamer Connolly’s broken hand compounding issues beyond the result of the game.

All four Pakistan quicks took wickets with Haris Rauf (2-24) running riot again, his wicket-haul of 10 across three games enough for man of the series honours.

Cricket Australia jammed the matches into the November window to give “clear air” for the Big Bash in January, but the readiness for many of the Australian players could be questioned.

Three totals of 8-208, chasing at the MCG, 163 all out in Adelaide, and finally the series low 140 were pitiful returns for the reigning World Cup winners, and the modest crowds who mustered the energy to go watch.

Fraser-McGurk had one innings, making two for South Australia in a one-day game, in seven weeks before the series began, and scored just 36 series runs in the absence of Travis Head

Then Aaron Hardie, elevated to number three, with 23 runs for West Australia his preparation, made a streaky 12.

“I’ve never seen an Australian battling line-up look so exposed,” shocked former England captain Vaughan said as Australia slumped to 4-75 when the second opener Short, the man most likely to be the full-time ODI replacement for David Warner, was out for 22 and then 21-year-old Connolly was injured by a sizzling delivery from Mohammad Hasnain, forcing him to retire hurt.

When Maxwell, whose lead-in included a second XI red-ball game for Victoria, was dismissed by Rauf for the third time in a row, and Marcus Stoinis, recalled for his first ODI in over a year, was out for eight there was no coming back.

WILD ABOUT WILD THING

Fast bowler Lance Morris had played two games in 47 days, both one-dayers for Western Australia, since his last first class game in February before taking to the field at Optus Stadium for his country.

But he again showed, with a two-wicket over as he claimed both Pakistan openers, that when fully wound up, he’s legitimately one of the most exciting things in Australian cricket.

Protecting him from further injury should be among the top priorities for CA’s high-performance team.,

FIRECRACKER FIZZLES

The excitement around 22-year-old Fraser- McGurk’s potential has been overwhelming through Australian cricket, including his ODI teammates who enthuse about the swashbuckling batter being “so exciting to watch”.

His stunning debut in the IPL in 2024, given his chance as a replacement for David Warner, as he has been in the Australian white-ball line-ups, delivered an ultra-impressive 330 runs in nine innings, during which he blasted 28 sixes, a team-high for the tournament.

But his selection in the ODI squad was more hopeful than earned, given his run haul this domestic summer totalled just two, in his only one-day game for South Australia, and he made just 81 runs in seven matches in the Major league cricket T20 tournament in the USA after his IPL heroics.

He finished the ODI series with 36 runs, lasting just 36 balls, but should have the T20 series to win back any trust lost through his unflattering performances for Australia since his electric 41 against the West Indies in February set tongues wagging.