Veteran Meg Lanning and newcomer Phoebe Litchfield joined forces in a sensational stand of the century to lead Australia to an eight-wicket win in the rain-damaged opening ODI in Brisbane.
Captain Lanning made his comeback after a six-month hiatus, hitting 76-67, while 19-year-old Litchfield made his ODI debut, hitting 92-78 as the duo scored 137 runs for the second wicket. Added and ready to win easily. Both batsmen struck out nine fours, with Litchfield also hitting six, but Australia trailed a corrected target of 158 in just 28.5 overs.
The game was reduced to 40 overs each after rain initially delayed the start and then stopped. Pakistan, who came first, lost to starters Muniba his Ali and Sidra his Ameen in the early minutes, with just 19 men and Darcy He caught up with Brown’s pace. Talia McGrath’s strike against Omaima Sohail then got off to a bad start as Pakistan fumbled for 38/3 after nine overs.
Bisma Maloof and Nida Dar then added 46 runs to his four wickets to bring some stability to the innings, but it came to an end again with the dismissal of the captain. Maroof was strangled in the side of her leg by her Ashleigh Gardner, but Dar kept her 59 of her 88 as Pakistan rose to her 160/8 in her 40 overs. bottom.
Pakistan needed a lot of effort on the ball, with Diana Baig providing the first boost on Beth Mooney’s wicket, but Litchfield and Lanning dropped at six, as the visitors looked unimaginable. , ran through the lane. In the process, Lanning passed his one-day run of 4,500 while Litchfield reached half a century in debut. Omaima Sohail managed to explain Lanning, but Litchfield saw through the chase and left quite an impression on his first day out.