Pakistan script historic comeback in 22-year first Down Under; Mohammad Rizwan leads team to victorious start as captain

Despite a tumultuous start to the year, Pakistan's fortunes have turned around in dramatic fashion with a resounding victory over Australia in the third ODI in Perth. The team, under the leadership of Mohammad Rizwan in his first series as captain, secured an impressive 8-wicket win to claim a historic 2-1 series triumph. This victory marks Pakistan's first series win on Australian soil since 2002, capping off a remarkable turnaround for the team.

Pakistan’s bowling was in fine form to restrict Australia to 140 in the first innings in Perth, with a quartet of pacers doing the damage as the hosts never got going. Although Australia played a changed team in anticipation of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the horizon, their team consisted of plenty of quality, with the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, and Steve Smith all playing during this series.

Pakistan have looked in good touch in all three matches of the series, succumbing to a narrow less in the first match at the MCG as Pat Cummins guided his team home with the bat. However, the visitors bounced back strongly to bowl Australia out for 163 at the Adelaide Oval, winning by nine wickets, before wrapping up the win with another fine performance at the Optus Stadium.

Haris Rauf was the star with the ball, taking 10 wickets in the three matches, while Shaheen Afridi took 8 wickets of his own. In a low-scoring series, strong opening contributions from Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique saw them home on both occasions.

Babar Azam scored the winning runs for Pakistan, sealing it in a 50-run partnership with the man filling his captain's boots in Mohammad Rizwan.

This was Pakistan’s first series win in 22 years in Australia, having been beaten comprehensively 5-0 in 2009 and 4-1 in 2016 on their previous two series in the country. Interestingly, Pakistan came back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 on that occasion as well, in what was another low-scoring series with Waqar Younis captaining the visiting team.

Pakistan have bounced back after a difficult first half of 2024, where they were whitewashed when touring Australia for a Test series, before also losing a Test series to Bangladesh and struggling in the T20 World Cup. A Test series win over England, followed by this victory in Australia, will give the team plenty of confidence heading into the home ICC Champions Trophy early in 2025.

The two teams will now prepare for a three-match T20 series, beginning at the Gabba in Brisbane on 14th November, before heading to the SCG in Sydney and finally the Bellerive Oval in Hobart to round out the series.