4th over: Australia 26-1 (Short 13, Smith 0) Short survives after Shaheen drops a sitter and knuckles down to see out the over from Naseem. Mohammad Rizwan has his gloves in the air appealing for caught behind off the last ball of the innings but even his teammates have little interest in backing up their skipper this time.

DROPPED! Shaheen undoes much of his good work in the previous over as Short hooks a shorter ball from Naseem but hits it straight to the Pakistan fielder at deep square-leg. Shaheen gets himself into a good position quickly enough but is still moving when the ball arrives and grasses the catch. Adding insult to injury, it trickles into the boundary.

3rd over: Australia 21-1 (Short 8, Smith 0) Shaheen gets the breakthrough and there can be no argument that Fraser-McGurk was refusing to play the ball on its merits. But the opener has missed another opportunity to make the most of a fast start and a good wicket.

WICKET! Fraser-McGurk lbw b Shaheen 13 (Australia 13-1)

2nd over: Australia 20-0 (Short 7, Fraser-McGurk 13) Fraser-McGurk lets fly with a trio of near-perfect shots through the off side for three boundaries. The first is a cut shot that turns into a punch through cover, the next two more classic drives as the opener punishes anything wide from Naseem Shah.

1st over: Australia 8-0 (Short 7, Fraser-McGurk 1) Shaheen Shah Afridi pitches the first delivery right up in the blockhole but Matt Short punches it out for three past mid-off. He finishes the over with the first boundary of the day from a mis-timed pull past the square-leg umpire. Jake Fraser-McGurk talked up his intention to attack from the get-go, but he sees off Shaheen with caution.

The national anthems ring out, 13 players and a pair of umpires make their way onto the field, and the resident DJ pumps up the volume. Shaheen Shah Afridi has the cherry in his hand and Matt Short is on strike, as Pakistan look to beat Australia for just the third time in their past 15 ODIs to stay alive in the three-match series.

For those already casting a subtle eye towards the mouthwatering Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India that starts in Perth on 22 November, Australia Test discard Marcus Harris is staking his claim for a recall in the race to replace Warner (and Smith).

The 32-year-old has just reached a half-century in the tour match against India A at the MCG in what, as Jack Snape so eloquently explains, is perhaps the most pivotal innings of Harris’s “good, but never quite good enough” career so far.

Teams

Pakistan win the toss and choose to field

We’d perhaps like to think we live in simpler times, at least on the cricket field, and this tale from the West Indian rebel tour to South Africa in 1983 points to a troubled period that should not be forgotten.

The rebels had planned to depart from Barbados in total secrecy, but their cover was blown in spectacular fashion by the Guyanese cricket commentator and journalist Joseph “Reds” Perreira, who lifted the lid on the enterprise after receiving a tip-off from a senior figure in the West Indies game.

Australia were racing towards their 204-run target in the first ODI and only needed another 71 with eight wickets and more than 34 overs up their sleeve when Pakistan quick Haris Rauf dismissed Steve Smith for 44. The wheels quickly fell off the Australia innings from there, at least until Pat Cummins took command with the willow in his first ODI since lifting the Cricket World Cup trophy last year.

Pakistan will surely be better for the run after their entire XI played their first ODI since the same 50-over showpiece event in India. While the first aim today will be to level the three-match series and set up a decider in Perth, Mohammad Rizwan’s are also building towards hosting the ICC’s next 50-over event – the Champions Trophy – in February and March.

Preamble

Martin Pegan