KARACHI, Nov 6: Pakistan cricketers disappointed a packed-to-capacity National Stadium crowd with a lacklustre display on Friday when they went down to Australia by 86 runs in the first one-day international without offering a fight.
Pakistan top order collapsed like a pack of cards in their 100th match on home soil when they committed harakiri and slumped to 41 for five in 9.3 overs while chasing Australia's colossal 324 for eight on a placid track. It was interestingly, Australia's highest score against Pakistan, beating the previous best of 300 for five at Brisbane in 1989-90.
Only a gritty and fighting knock by Yousuf Yohanna saved Pakistan's blushes who managed to reach 238 in 47.2 overs. But his efforts were not enough to stop Australia from going 1-0 ahead in the three-match limited overs series.
The second match will be played at Peshawar on Sunday followed up by the final game at Lahore on Tuesday.
The blame for this demoralizing and upsetting defeat can't be rested only on the shoulders of the players. The team management is, in fact, chiefly to be held responsible.
The team management stunned everyone when they dropped match-winner Saqlain Mushtaq from the team along with all-rounder Azhar Mahmood. The team, which was already depleted in the absence of Saeed Anwar, Salim Malik, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mushtaq Ahmad, lost whatever punch was left in it with this atrocious decision.
If anything was left to imbalance the composition of the side, it was completed when Kabir Khan was included. The left-armer, who has not represented Pakistan in nearly two years, was whipped all over the ground and conceded 59 runs from his seven overs. If the selectors had decided to play an additional seamer, the best choice would have been Aqib Javed who has been labelled as a one-day bowler. But he was not even considered in the long list of 16 players who were announced for this match.
To pile on more agony, skipper Aamir Sohail opted to field after winning the toss.
The excuse given for dropping Saqlain was form. Well, if that was the reason, then only Ijaz Ahmad deserved to play this match as none of the Pakistan team players, including skipper Aamir Sohail, have performed according to their calibre in the season so far.
The decision to leave out Saqlain was a surprising one. Saqlain has proved his worth and merit by capturing 163 wickets from 83 one-dayers.
Reverting to the proceedings of the day's play, opener Adam Gilchrist laid the foundation of a handsome Australian total by scoring a quickfire 45 off 36 balls with seven boundaries.
And though Pakistan pulled the initiative back from Australia by reducing them to 113 for four in 20.5 overs, it turned out to be the last time the smiles came on their faces.
Left-handers Darren Lehmann and Michael Bevan held the Pakistani bowlers by the scruff of their necks when they plundered them to both sides of the wickets at will.
The two batsmen displayed the real artistry of batting in one-day cricket by nudging and pushing the ball around, keeping the fielders under pressure by sprinting between the wickets, and hoisting the ball over the encircle fielders with sweetly timed shots.
In the final overs, the two used the long handle effectively as evident from the fact that the last 10 overs yielded 85 runs.
The fifth wicket partnership between the two produced 157 runs from 138 balls which was a new partnership record for Australia against Pakistan.
Lehmann, playing in his 26th match, was the more attractive and forceful of the two when he displayed a variety of shots to score an eye-catching century - first of his career.
His superlative 103 came off just 101 balls and included eight boundaries. He had reached his half century from 61 balls with three fours. He was deservedly adjudged Man-of-the-Match.
Bevan played a typical cavalier knock to score a fine 83 that came off only 77 balls and included seven hits to the fence.
For Pakistan, only Shoaib Akhtar bowled to a decent line and length to finish with three for 44. But bad captaincy denied him his full quota of 10 overs as he bowled only nine overs.
Arshad Khan, trying to step in Saqlain's shoes, was the worst of all when he was smashed around for 70 runs from his 10 overs. He, nevertheless, had the consolation of picking up three wickets.
Pakistan, chasing a target of 325 at 6.5 an over, never threatened Australia after losing half the side at the score of 41 before the completion of the 10th over.
Reckless, irresponsible batting from the stroke-makers led to their downfall.
Salim Elahi was dismissed on the second ball of the innings, Aamir Sohail was caught in the slips apparently trying to give slip-catching practise, Shahid Afridi lost his wicket while attempting to hit the ball into one of the stands but only managed a leading edge, Ijaz Ahmad threw away his wicket trying to struck Glenn McGrath for third boundary of the over and Azam Khan missed out a golden opportunity to get some runs when he was caught fishing outside the off-stump.
It was left to young Yousuf Yohanna to salvage some pride and he played his role to perfection by scoring a classy 92. His innings was a lesson to his senior compatriots as he took his time and struck the ball to perfection.
Yohanna, a bright future prospect, never gave an hint from his innings that he was playing his first one-day international in eight months despite being a regular member of the team.
His high quality innings was punctuated with nine scorching boundaries and a huge six. He faced 110 balls but a tried shot denied him a well deserved maiden century.
Together with Shoaib Akhtar, Yohanna shared in a face-saving 91-run eight wicket stand from 93 balls. Akhtar's contribution in that partnership was 38 from 55 balls with three boundaries.
For Australia, pace duo of Glenn McGrath and Damien Fleming did most of the damage and in fact were responsible for ripping the heart out of the Pakistan batsmen by sharing the top five wickets between them.
McGrath accounted for three batsmen while Fleming snapped up two wickets. Brendon Julian also got amongst the wicket-takers by bagging two wickets for 31 runs.