AUSTRALIA’s surging one-day international form has continued after Aaron Finch’s monster century and a dominant partnership with Usman Khawaja propelled them to another comprehensive win over Pakistan in Sharjah.

Finch (153 not out off 143) amassed his second century in as many games and 13th overall, while Khawaja (88 off 107) picked up where he left off in the recent series against India in posting another substantial total from the top of the order.

The eight-wicket win was eerily similar to Friday’s at the same ground when they reeled in 281, with the opening two matches of the series marking two of the three highest run chases at the venue that has hosted more ODIs than any other.

There were a few nervy moments in the dying overs, but the result never truly appeared in doubt as the tourists claimed the same margin of victory as two days earlier, dropping just two wickets en route to their target.

Pakistan’s decision to promote Mohammad Rizwan up from No.8 to No.4 had earlier proved canny, with the wicketkeeper-batsman cracking his maiden ODI century to see Pakistan post a competitive 7-284.

But an exhilarating entrance to international cricket from debutant tearaway Mohammad Hasnain aside, Pakistan barely fired a shot with the ball as Finch and Khawaja both played chanceless innings.

Their 209-run stand was Australia’s fifth-highest ODI opening partnership.
The only negative for the tourists was an injury to Jhye Richardson, whose involvement in the remainder of the five-game series is in question after the paceman dislocated his shoulder in a nasty fall.

Rizwan shared in a 127-run fifth-wicket partnership with skipper Shoaib Malik after his side had wobbled to 2-35 and then 4-112 nearing the halfway point of their innings.
Rizwan is standing in behind the stumps for regular captain and gloveman Sarfraz Ahmed, but his well-crafted 115 off 126 balls will have done his hopes of making Pakistan’s World Cup squad no harm.

After Malik won the toss and batted for the second time in three days, Richardson’s afternoon began far better than it ended less than an hour later, offering another glimpse of his skills with the new ball.

Australia’s pacemen had failed to make any early inroads on a similar-looking pitch from the first game, but two days later, Richardson had both openers dismissed inside the first six overs.

But the Western Australian was also soon back in the sheds, sporting a blue brace around his right arm to signal the end of his involvement in the game, and possibly the series.
What began as a likely tactic to make up Richardson’s remaining overs turned out to be a masterstroke from Finch, who brought himself on to send down his part-time left-arm spinners and duly had first ODI century-maker Haris Sohail caught behind for 34.

The introduction of Hasnain, who Pakistan legend Waqar Younis said should have opened the bowling, gave Finch and Khawaja plenty to think about with a series of vicious short balls.

But after a hostile opening spell that saw Finch struck on the helmet, the 18-year-old, who had never played a domestic one-dayer let alone a fully-fledged ODI before Sunday, posed less of a threat as the night wore on and the opening stand grew ever larger.

Pakistan briefly had their tails up after Khawaja was finally out slog sleeping and the promoted Maxwell, after twice smashing Imad Wasim onto the stadium’s roof, ran himself out.
A run-a-ball chase for the final six overs suddenly looked a tricky one, as Pakistan missed a series of run-out opportunities and scoring became tougher on a wearing track with a ball beginning to reverse-swing.

But after bringing up his first-ever ODI 150, Finch hit the winning runs to give the Aussies a 2-0 series lead.