Watch: Rizwan takes brilliant diving, juggling catch in ODI against Australia
Mohammad Rizwan has taken giant strides in international cricket ever since he replaced Sarfaraz Ahmed as Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batter. He has been consistently contributing with the bat and has also showcased his skills with the gloves behind the stumps. Rizwan was once again at his best in terms of his wicket keeping during the first ODI against Australia in Lahore.
Australia had got off to a good start courtesy an assault from Travis Head while Pakistan were in desperate need of a wicket. Aaron Finch, at the other end, was playing second fiddle to his partner. In the 15th over of the innings, debutant Zahid Mahmood came on to bowl the third over of his spell.
He was already under pressure having conceded 20 runs in his first two overs. After Head smacked him for another six, Finch came on strike to face him on the fourth ball of the over. Zahid tossed up a legbreak outside off to which the batter offered a front foot defence. In the process, the ball took a thin edge of Finch’s bat and the ball hit Rizwan’s wrists and lobbed up for a brief period.
This is when the Pakistan wicketkeeper reacted swiftly to take a juggling catch helping his side break the opening partnership. It also helped Mahmood in getting his act together as he bowled well for the rest of the innins while also picking another wicket of Alex Carey later in the innings.
Here’s the video:
Debut wicket for @iamzahid23 is the Australian skipper
#BoysReadyHain I #PAKvAUS pic.twitter.com/HWaAXnfGdb
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) March 29, 2022
Not a great day with the bat for Rizwan
While Rizwan had a decent day behind the stumps, he couldn’t make an impact with the bat in the steep chase. He came in to bat in the 27th over when Pakistan had just lost two wickets including that of skipper Babar Azam. But Rizwan could only score 10 runs off 18 balls before getting out to leg-spinner Adam Zampa.
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Australia had posted a mammoth total of 313 runs batting first courtesy of a brilliant ton from Travis Head. But in response, Pakistan were bundled out for 225 in the 46th over of the innings despite Imam-ul-Haq scoring a valiant century.