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In their second warm-up game ahead of ODI World Cup 2023, Australian captain Pat Cummins was in a mood to not overexert his frontline bowlers and give part-timers a go at Pakistan batters. While Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith are considered part-timers, David Warner is someone who bowls in international cricket rarely. It has been only once that Warner has bowled in ODI cricket and that too in 2012 against England. However, Warner did not disappoint straightaway as he almost broke a crucial partnership.
Warner was introduced by Cummins in the 26th over when Iftikhar Ahmed and Babar Azam were looking to take on the spinners. The leg-spinner started off with a wide down the leg side. On the second ball, Warner bowled a full toss that was smashed by Iftikhar towards long on.
Iftikhar did not get timing on it and it went to Jos Inglis who had to take a couple of steps to take the catch. But Inglis could not hold on to it as the ball popped out of his hands. Cummins smiled as the opening batter who rarely bowls had almost got the better of Pakistan’s middle order mainstay with a nothing delivery.
Warner would have got the big wicket of Iftikhar but instead, he was hit for a four and a six in the 16-run over. In his next over, Babar started off with back-to-back fours. He also bowled an above-waist height no ball which was hit for a four by Iftikhar. On the free hit delivery, he hit a six over long-on. On the last ball of the over, Babar hit a four to complete his half-century. The 36-year-old ended up conceding 41 runs from two overs. Cummins took him off the attack after that.
Earlier, Cummins had opted to bat first after winning the toss. The southpaw scored 48 runs from just 33 balls including four fours and three sixes. He was dismissed by leg-spinner Usama Mir in the 13th over of the innings. He was agile in the field and took three catches to dismiss Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, and Mir.
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