Pakistan prevail in low-scoring chase to clinch series

Having defended 231 comfortably in the second ODI, Australia captain Josh Inglis opted to bat in the series decider in the hope of putting up another such total and give his bowlers enough to work with. But his fellow batters didn't get aboard that express as a batting collapse led them to just 157. Matthew Kuhnemann then kept Australia interested with a stirring spell of bowling but Babar Azam led the staunch fight, and Shadab Khan chipped in at the end to secure the victory, even if a touch nervy at the end.

Inglis walked out to open instead of Alex Carey in this fixture and ended up being the only batter capable of pushing the Pakistan bowlers back. He scored 65 off 71, while the next best effort was a mere 19 - by both Marnus Labuschagne and Carey. Shaheen Afridi, who picked three wickets in the game, began his inroads in the opening over when he sent Matthew Short packing.

Inglis carried Australia ahead in the company of Labuschagne until the 12th over and then with Short until the 23rd. The stands - 46 (69) and 52 (62) - took Australia close to 100 but once the latter was broken, a collapse ensued. Afridi was key to the starting point of this fall for Australia, as he triggered it by ending Inglis's innings. Australia went from 119/3 to 157 all-out, losing seven wickets for just 37 runs in the space of 16 overs. Once again spin was hard to put away. Abrar Ahmed bowled 10 overs for just 19 runs and dismissed Matthew Renshaw and Cooper Connolly. Shadab Khan was frugal too - 2/28 in 9 overs - taking out Oliver Peake and Adam Zampa.

Pakistan opener Maaz Sadaqat aimed to make the most of the Powerplay during the chase, as he hit four boundaries in the first three overs. Nathan Ellis cleaned up his opening partner Sahibzada Farhan in the third over but that didn't deter Sadaqat from continuing to play his strokes. He carried that on until eighth over, when Short trapped him leg before for a 26-ball 27. Babar Azam meanwhile made a circumspect start but proved to be the solid reason for Pakistan's win as his defiant 40 off 84 deliveries blunted Australia to an extent. Kuhnemann piqued Australia's interests of trying to defend yet another low total (they defended 230 in the 2nd ODI) by denting the chase repeatedly through the middle-overs.

Kuhnemann tossed one up to clean up Ghazi Ghori in the 13th over. More than 10 overs later, he brought an end to the stand between Azam and Salman Agha with turn and bounce as the latter was caught behind. He ruffled more feathers by dismissing Azam a few overs later. Renshaw then saw the back of Arafat Minhas to leave Pakistan on thin ice at 119/5. But Abdul Samad (18* off 30) and Shadab (29* off 42) saw the chase through in the 42nd over.

Australia 157 in 42 overs (Josh Inglis 65; Shaheen Afridi 3-30, Abrar Ahmed 2-19, Shadab Khan 2-28) lost to Pakistan 161/6 in 41.5 overs (Babar Azam 40, Shadab Khan 29*; Matthew Kuhnemann 3-38) by 4 wickets