Melbourne (Australia), : Pakistan speedster Haris Rauf admitted that they made mistakes in their opening ODI against Australia at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday.

Australia continued to dominate Pakistan and secured their 27th win in 28 completed home games across all formats. The final edition of their impressive tally was a narrow 2-wicket win with 99 balls remaining.

Despite the loss of the opening duo, Steven Smith and Josh Inglis calmed nerves in the camp by forging an 85-man partnership. However, Pakistan found their way back into the game with an unexpected push from Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi.

The duo together removed the set punch pair, paving the way for an unforeseen comeback. Rauf had enough pace in him to extract the extra momentum which was enough to gain an advantage and send Glenn Maxwell back in the 204-run chase for a golden duck.

Australia found itself down to five balls and three wickets without a single run. This was the situation in which Pakistan thought about undermining its authority and claiming victory.

“We all did our best, whether on the field or with the ball. We had the plan to bowl short from my side. We were successful; we got a few wickets that way,” Rauf said after the game, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

In the end, Pakistan’s sheer resilience to achieve victory was not enough given the composure displayed by Pat Cummins. With an unbeaten record of 32 from 31 deliveries, Cummins held his nerve and prevailed confidently.

Rauf acknowledged Pakistan’s sloppiness which resulted in the country giving away 21 extras in return for Australia’s four extras. Rauf also played a part in this after he went too far towards the leg side, which led to a four-pointer.

“We gave away extras, but when you attack you have to accept that these things happen. We made mistakes and were a bit messy. We know that these little things make an impact. “If you’re a good bowling unit, then you can cover the batters who fall 20 to 30 runs short if you also get stronger in the field,” Rauf said.

“We could have defended that and we all tried really hard. The game didn’t go our way but we didn’t compromise on our energy and effort,” he added.

After a 1-0 defeat in the three-match series, Pakistan will look to bounce back in the second ODI to be played in Adelaide on Friday.

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