LAHORE: After their defeat to Pakistan in the second One-Day International (ODI), Australia skipper Aaron Finch praised rival captain Babar Azam for his brilliant knock.
Centuries from skipper Babar Azam and opener Imam-ul-Haq helped Pakistan to register a record run chase and comprehensive six-wickets victory against Australia here at the Gadaffi stadium to level the three-match ODI series.
"I think that opening partnership set the foundation for Pakistan and Babar came in and played brilliantly. When you lose the toss, it doesn't make much of a difference," said Finch in a post-match presentation.
"The wicket played really well throughout. I thought we did quite well with the ball and when Pakistan took the risks, it came off and it can happen in ODI cricket with only 4 fielders out during the middle overs," he added.
Chasing 349, Pakistan got off to a solid start as the openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq put on 118 runs for the first wicket.
Marcus Stoinis got the breakthrough, cleaning up Fakhar Zaman for 67.
This brought Babar Azam to the crease, and he played another superb ODI innings for a 111-run partnership with Imam. The opener departed after making 106 runs from 97 deliveries.
The skipper also fell with some work still to be done, but his outstanding 114 from 83 balls had given his team a terrific chance.
The required rate was just beginning to creep up when Khushdil Shah smashed 27 from 17 balls to help Pakistan chase down the target. And Iftikhar Ahmed made the winning runs with six balls and six wickets to spare, setting up a decider in the third and final ODI.