White leads Australia to opening win

Cameron White scored a blistering century in the Australian run chase to hand the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 5-ODI series.

Australia beat Pakistan by five wickets in a thrilling encounter at Brisbane to give them an early advantage over the visitors.

Pakistan elected to bat first after winning the toss on an absolute belter at the Gabba and got off to a solid start with 54 runs in the Quick start period. Salman Butt scored an impressive 72, sharing crucial partnerships with Kamran Akmal and Younus Khan at the top of the order. They lost three wickets in quick succession before the 35 over mark but Shoaib Malik and Khan helped rebuild from that point, putting them in a formidable position heading into the Extreme Performance overs. Things seemed to take a turn for the worst as they lost two wickets in the first over of the Batting Power Play but thanks to Shahid Afridi’s 48 runs off just 26, Pakistan were able to add 50 runs in the five overs before they were bowled out for 274 in last over.

The Australian openers struggled to get going as the Pakistan strike bowlers hit the right areas on a consistent basis which earned them two big wickets of Shane Watson and Shaun Marsh inside the first Power Play. Ricky Ponting scored a streaky 27 before Afridi picked up his wicket and Australia found themselves in a precarious situation. It took a stellar effort from Michael Clarke and Cameron White through the middle of the innings which helped Australia get back into the game as reflected on the Castrol Index worm. The duo added 102 runs for the fourth wicket which gave them a slight edge over their opponents in the last ten overs. White put on an excellent display of some powerful hitting as he raced away to a century off 85 balls and put the hosts in the driving seat. They eventually finished things off in the 49th over.

Cameron White was adjudged Man of the Match for his 105 off 88 balls with a Batting Momentum of 119.