Australia vs. Pakistan, 3rd ODI: Highlights, Scorecard and Report
Australia claimed a thrilling final-ball victory in Abu Dhabi on Sunday as they beat Pakistan by one run in the third and final one-day international of the series already won by George Bailey's side.
Some tight bowling from the Pakistanis restricted their opponents to 231 from their 50 overs—a very reachable target.
After a strong start in response, a few middle-order issues seemed to be handing the victory to Australia, only for Pakistan to rally once again. But Glenn Maxwell's two wickets in the last over polished off the Pakistan tail and handed the Aussies a one-run victory.
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Australia won the toss and elected to bat first, Aaron Finch and David Warner putting on 48 together before the former fell for 18 to the bowling of Anwar Ali.
Warner went on to make 56 in 63 balls and No. 3 Steve Smith also scored well—eventually making 77—as they partnered to take Australia past the 100 mark for the loss of just one wicket.
However, skipper Bailey fell for a duck while Phillip Hughes and Brad Haddin failed to reach double figures and Pakistan truly got themselves back into contention, per Cricbuzz:
The travelling Aussies—who wrapped up the three-match ODI series on Friday—eventually finished their 50 overs at 231-9, with Sohail Tanvir bagging three wickets.
| Batsman | Dismissal | Runs | Mins | Balls |
| Finch | c Mohammad Irfan b Anwar Ali | 18 | 45 | 34 |
| Warner | c & b Shahid Afridi | 56 | 93 | 63 |
| Smith | b Sohail Tanvir | 77 | 151 | 105 |
| Bailey* | c Ahmed Shehzad b Mohammad Irfan | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Maxwell | c Umar Amin b Shahid Afridi | 20 | 27 | 22 |
| Hughes | lbw b Sohail Tanvir | 5 | 25 | 14 |
| Haddin† | run out (Anwar Ali) | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Faulkner | c Umar Amin b Sohail Tanvir | 33 | 59 | 42 |
| Starc | run out (Mohammad Irfan) | 5 | 16 | 7 |
| Richardson | not out | 9 | 6 | 4 |
| Doherty | not out | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Extras | (lb 3, w 1, nb 1) | 5 | ||
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
| Mohammad Irfan | 10 | 0 | 61 | 1 |
| Sohail Tanvir | 10 | 1 | 40 | 3 |
| Anwar Ali | 10 | 0 | 41 | 1 |
| Zulfiqar Babar | 10 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| Shahid Afridi | 10 | 1 | 44 | 2 |
Although a dead rubber, Mitchell Johnson was insistent pre-match that the Australians wanted a clean sweep of victories, per The Daily Telegraph, but Pakistan were most certainly in the game after their tight bowling:
"We want to win three-nil," he said. "That’s our goal now. We’ve won the series but that’s the way we are. We want to keep going, keep playing good cricket because we’ve got a World Cup coming up next year."
Pakistan started off their chase well, Ahmed Shehzad and Sarfraz Ahmed putting on 56 in 11 overs before the former was bowled by Xavier Doherty.
| Batsman | Dismissal | Runs | Mins | Balls |
| Ahmed Shehzad | b Doherty | 26 | 46 | 41 |
| Sarfraz Ahmed† | run out (Starc/†Haddin) | 32 | 66 | 39 |
| Asad Shafiq | lbw b Faulkner | 50 | 97 | 73 |
| Fawad Alam | c Smith b Doherty | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Sohaib Maqsood | c Warner b Richardson | 34 | 55 | 46 |
| Umar Amin | b Starc | 19 | 60 | 27 |
| Shahid Afridi* | c Smith b Richardson | 6 | 15 | 12 |
| Anwar Ali | c Maxwell b Faulkner | 14 | 39 | 28 |
| Sohail Tanvir | b Maxwell | 10 | 27 | 15 |
| Zulfiqar Babar | not out | 14 | 22 | 11 |
| Mohammad Irfan | c Faulkner b Maxwell | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| Extras | (b 2, lb 5, w 18) | 25 | ||
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
| Starc | 10 | 1 | 33 | 1 |
| Richardson | 10 | 0 | 36 | 2 |
| Faulkner | 10 | 0 | 52 | 2 |
| Maxwell | 8 | 1 | 41 | 2 |
| Doherty | 10 | 1 | 54 | 2 |
| Smith | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
Ahmed was then run out before Fawad Alam was brilliantly, but controversially, caught on the leg side by Smith, as shared by cricket writer Freddie Wilde:
Asad Shafiq's well-made half-century kept his team's run rate ticking over, however, and they looked to be heading for quite a comfortable win and avoiding a series whitewash in the one-day matches.
However, a quick tumble of wickets saw Australia gain the initiative, with Kane Richardson most importantly bagging the wicket of big-hitting skipper Shahid Afridi for just six.
Pakistan still were in with a chance of winning, needing just two runs from the final over, but Maxwell took the wickets of Tanvir and then Mohammad Irfan off the final ball to seal the win.
The two sides will now face off for a two-match Test series in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Pakistan having lost the only T20 and all three ODIs so far in the tour.
Australia most definitely go into the series as favourites, and the world's second-ranked Test side will be hoping to maintain their winning ways.
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