Pakistan’s young all-rounder Arafat Minhas etched his name into the record books by becoming the first Pakistani bowler to claim a five-wicket haul in a One-Day International (ODI) debut against Australia.
The historic feat was achieved in the first ODI between Pakistan and India held at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
The all-rounder was superb with the ball, taking 5 wickets for 32 runs in his 10 overs and helping Australia to be limited to 200 runs in 44.1 overs. His brilliant bowling shattered the visitors’ line-up and gave Pakistan a commanding lead.
Minhas registered an early breakthrough by getting Josh Inglis, who got out due to leg-before-wicket for 13 runs.
He got rid of Marnus Labuschagne for a duck in the same over with LBW. The youngster kept his impressive form going, clean-bowling Cameron Green for another duck in the 15th over.
Matthew Short, one of Australia’s better-established hitters, was Arafat’s fourth wicket after a valuable half-century, to his name.
Minhas then finished off his historic five-wicket tally with the fall of Nathan Ellis for eight runs to complete one of the most memorable debut spells by the Pakistani bowler against Australia.
Half-centuries for Matthew Short and Matt Renshaw helped to save Australia’s innings to some degree but Pakistan’s disciplined bowling attack prevented the tourists from achieving a competitive total.
Minhas took five wickets while Abrar Ahmed took two wickets. Captain Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf picked up one apiece.
Shaheen’s decision to field first proved highly effective, as Pakistan bowled Australia out and set themselves a target of 201 runs for victory.
Also read: Pakistan start ODI series with dominant five-wicket victory over Australia
