Mon Nov 04 09:57:52 UTC 2024: ## Babar Azam Cleaned Up by Zampa as Australia Dominate First ODI

**Melbourne, Australia:** In a match dominated by the Australians, former Pakistan captain Babar Azam was dismissed for an unwanted record in the first ODI against Australia on Monday. He was cleaned up by a delivery from Adam Zampa, marking his first clean bowled dismissal against a spinner in five years.

Babar and new captain Mohammad Rizwan put on a 39-run stand, but Pakistan were unable to recover from the early losses of Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique. At the time of writing, Pakistan are six wickets down for 124 runs in 33 overs, with Rizwan the top scorer with 44.

Meanwhile, Australia celebrated a significant milestone as Mitchell Starc surpassed legendary Brett Lee to become the fastest bowler to reach 100 ODI wickets in Australia. Starc achieved this in 54 innings, while Lee took 55. Starc is now the sixth player to reach this milestone in Australia.

The match marked the return of Pat Cummins to the Australian captaincy after a period away due to paternity leave. The series serves as crucial preparation for next year’s Champions Trophy, with Australia only scheduled to play one more ODI before the tournament.

Pakistan, who will host the Champions Trophy, have undergone a period of transition in their white-ball team and management. Babar has stepped down from limited-overs captaincy twice since last year’s World Cup, with Rizwan taking over. The series also saw the ODI debuts of Saim Ayub and Irfan Khan for Pakistan.

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