Australia locked horns with Pakistan in the opening match of the third day of the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals. After winning the toss in a game reduced to 14 overs due to rain, Australia decided to bowl first.
Top-scorer on day two, AmmarHasan lobbed a catch to Brandon McLean off the bowling of Phil Hartig-Franc while still on four. Hartig-Franc also dismissed Hasan’s opening partner HassenJaved for 10.
Affected by the rain, the pitch was slow and the ball didn’t come on to the bat in the first 10 overs but Faraz Ali and Rameez Aziz applied themselves well. They added 46 runs for the third wicket before Aziz was dismissed by Murray Crowe in the eighth over. Top-scorer of the innings, Abdul Khan hit two big sixes and three fours to reach 30 before Australian skipper, Thomas Atallah had him caught near the boundary. Maintaining the strike rate with regular sixes, Pakistan finally posted 123/8. James McNeil doing the most damage with 3/22.
Faced with a tough 125 runs to score and just 14 overs to score it in, Charles Wakim and Thomas Gallop belted 27 in three overs before Gallop was run-out for 17. Australia’s top wicket-taker James McNeil came in and hit 34 off 23 to inch Australia closer, and Hayden Nichols sealed the deal with consecutive fours in the 13th over.
It was a close match that swung either way more than once, but it was the all-round performance by ‘Man of the Match’ James McNeil that stood the difference between the two teams.
