HYDERABAD, India: Australia defeated Pakistan by 14 runs in their warm-up match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, with Glenn Maxwell putting up a good all-round show, scoring 77 runs off 71 balls and registering figures of 1-34 with the ball at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Tuesday.
Batting first, Australia got off to a blazing start courtesy of David Warner (48), while Maxwell's knock laden with four fours and six sixes and contributions from Cameron Green (50) and Josh Inglis (48) took the Aussies to a massive 351-run total in 50 overs.
Haris Rauf was Pakistan's most expensive bowlers with figures of 1-97 in nine overs. Pakistan's opening batters failed to amass quick runs. Imam ul Haq (16) and Fakhar Zaman (22) were removed with the scoreline of 47 runs. And 15 runs later Abdullah Shafique was shown the door by Sean Abbott. Shadab Khan was dismissed with 83 runs on the board.
However, Babar Azam along with Iftikhar Ahmed steadied the run chase. Iftikhar, during his 83-runs knock, not only soaked the pressure of early wickets, but also went for big shots before getting dismissed by Marnus Labuschagne. Babar and Iftikhar notched partnership of 144 runs to keep Pakistan in the hunt. With 87 needed of 13 overs, Babar retired out.
Pat Cummins then dented Pakistan’s rhythm by removing Salman Agha, but Mohammad Nawaz countined to churn out runs. Nawaz scored 50 runs off 42 balls. He got out off the bowling of Mitchell Marsh with 326 runs on the board. Hasan Ali was removed 11 runs later. Pakistan were all out for 337.