LAHORE, Pakistan – In a tense second One Day International played on a low, slow turning pitch that tested both sides’ adaptability, Australian fast bowler Nathan Ellis delivered a career-defining performance, taking 4 wickets for just 33 runs to secure a 41-run victory for the tourists. The win levels the three-match ODI series at one game apiece, ahead of the series decider scheduled for Thursday at the same Lahore venue.
Pakistan had claimed victory in the series opener by five wickets on a similarly spin-friendly surface in Rawalpindi last Saturday, where 17-year-old left-arm spinner Arafat Minhas made history by becoming the first Pakistani bowler ever to take a five-wicket haul on his ODI debut. For the second match, Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi won the pre-match coin toss and opted to put Australia into bat first on a track that offered sharp turn for spinners and inconsistent bounce for seam bowlers.
Australia’s batting innings got off to a disastrous immediate start, with opener Alex Carey bowled off the very first delivery of the match from Afridi. The side’s struggles continued soon after when spinner Abrar Ahmed claimed Matthew Short via a return catch, and star batter Marnus Labuschagne again failed to adapt to the turning track, top-edging a sweep shot off Minhas for just 5 runs.
Australian captain Josh Inglis and all-rounder Cameron Green steadied the innings with a patient 93-ball, 51-run partnership, both batters opting to rein in expansive shots to survive the testing spin conditions. Inglis reached his half-century with a deft reverse sweep boundary off Abrar before falling to a low bounce that left him bowled by Minhas for 51. Green continued his gritty innings, combining with Matthew Renshaw for a 65-run stand before holing out to long-on shortly after bringing up his own 50. Renshaw compiled a steady 43 runs off as many balls before being bowled by Haris Rauf in the 44th over, but 19-year-old Oliver Peake boosted Australia’s late total with an aggressive 31 runs off 32 balls, including two sixes, to help the side finish at 231 runs for 9 wickets at the end of their 50 overs.
Pakistan’s bowling attack put in a strong effort, with Afridi taking 3 wickets for 36 runs, Abrar and Minhas each claiming 2 wickets, and Rauf adding 2 more. After the match, Afridi acknowledged that his side had conceded 20 to 30 avoidable extra runs in the final overs of Australia’s innings that proved costly.
In response, Pakistan’s chase got off to a rapid start from Ellis, who picked up a wicket in his very first over when Maaz Sadaqat edged the ball back onto his own stumps. In the fifth over, he trapped Pakistan star batter Babar Azam lbw with a delivery that nipped sharply inward, leaving the hosts at 2 wickets for just a handful of runs. Pakistan’s middle order crumbled under pressure from spin bowler Matthew Short, who finished with 3 wickets for 36 runs, slumping to 78 runs for 6 wickets before all-rounder Shadab Khan and Minhas (33) rebuilt the chase with a 59-run partnership.
Ellis broke the critical stand in the 32nd over, trapping Minhas lbw to put Australia back in control. Shadab fought on to reach his fifth ODI half-century, scoring 71 runs off 104 balls to take the chase into the final overs, but he was the last batter dismissed, stumped down the leg side by Inglis off the bowling of Tanveer Sangha. Pakistan were bowled out for 190, giving Australia a 41-run win.
After the match, Ellis noted that the spin-focused pitches Pakistan prepared for this series against a depleted Australian side were far different from the high-scoring one-day cricket played in most international circuits right now. “It’s no secret that today it was pretty low and slow … we saw the cutters and the slow balls working a lot today, and the ball started to tail and reverse swing through the 35-to-45-over mark,” he said.
Inglis praised Ellis’ match-winning performance, highlighting the bowler’s ability to vary his pace on the challenging surface. “You can always call on Nello on those sort of pitches, his variations are outstanding, and when you’ve got on-pace at 145 and then your slow balls at just over 100k an hour, it’s really tough,” Inglis said, adding that Australia always believed a total over 200 would put them in a strong position to win. Afridi echoed praise for Ellis, noting that the bowler’s consistent line and length stump to stump was the key to his success on the turning track.