LAHORE: He supported Pakistan with a smart 2/28 with 29 runs against Australia in the third and final ODI of the home series at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday.
The win took Pakistan 2-1 in the three-match series and marked their third consecutive win against the six-time champions in the format.
The Green Shirts got off to a shaky start to the chase as they lost right-arm opener Sahibzada Farhan (six) in the third over for 27 runs.
After a stuttering start, Mas Sadaq, who dominated the opening stand, put on 14 runs for the second wicket with Babar Azam until he was trapped lbw by Matthew Short in the eighth over.
The left-handed opener was a notable run scorer for Pakistan with a blistering 27 off 26 balls with 5 fours.
Babar then took control of Pakistan’s run chase, building crucial partnerships with the middle-order trio of Qazi Ghori (eight), Salman Ali Agha (15) and Arafat Minhas.
The 31-year-old top-scored for the home team with 40 runs off 84 balls with the help of 3 fours.
Pakistan suffered another blow to their chase as Matt Renshaw caught all-rounder Minhas (nine) at slip to reduce the total to 112/6.
But veteran all-rounder Shadab Khan and middle-order batsman Abdul Samad batted sensibly after back-to-back blows and eventually put on an unbeaten 49-run partnership for the seventh wicket in the 42nd over to take Pakistan to a hard-fought win.
Shatab remained unbeaten on 29 off 42 balls while Samad was unbeaten on 18 off 30 balls.
Among Australia’s bowlers, Kuhneman took 3 for 38 from his 10 overs, while Nathan Ellis, Short and Renshaw took one each.
Australian captain Josh Inglis’ decision to bat first backfired as the visitors managed to post 157 runs in 42 overs.
The touring side got off to a poor start to their innings as Shaheen dismissed their opener Matthew Short (nil) in the second ball.
Following an early stumble, Marnes Labuschagne (19) joined skipper Josh Inglis in the middle and the duo batted cautiously to add 46 runs, with Arafat Minhas run out in the 12th over.
Inglis shared a 52-run partnership for the third wicket with fellow wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey before falling to Harris Rauff in the 22nd over.
The Australia captain was sent back by Pakistan opener Shaheen in the 27th over, during which the left-arm pacer dismissed all-rounder Cameron Green (seven) as the tour slipped to 120/5.
Inglis was Australia’s top scorer with 65 off 71 balls with 8 fours and a six.
Australia lost two more wickets in succession as Abrar Ahmed dismissed Matt Renshaw (four) and Cooper Connolly (three) in his successive overs, while veteran all-rounder Shadab Khan dismissed Oliver Peak in the 35th over to end his wicket drought in ODIs.
Shadab struck again with the second delivery of the 42nd over, cleaning up Adam Zamba (10) in the same over where Matthew Kuhneman’s run out was miserably off the Australian bat.
Shaheen led Pakistan’s bowling with economical figures of 3/30 in eight overs, followed by Shadab and Abrar with two each, while Rauf chipped in with a scalp.