BENGALURU: Pakistan were well aware of the batting-friendly surface and the small boundaries at the M. Chinaswamy Stadium, where any inaccuracy or inconsistency by the bowlers or lack of discipline in the field almost never goes unpunished.

But against Australia on Friday, they seemed to have forgotten the play-book in the dressing room. Pakistan were guilty of spilling three catches — almost all of them regulation — as they fell to a 62-run loss against the five time champions; a second World Cup defeat in a row for Babar Azam’s men following their thrashing at the hands of arch-rivals India in their previous game.

Two reprieves were handed to the explosive David Warner, who went on to smash 163 off 124 balls. The left-hander’s effort, along with his opening partner Mitchell Marsh’s 121, helped Australia post a mammoth 367-9; replying to which Pakistan were bundled out for 305 in the 46th over.

“We were not up to the mark,” a dejected Babar said afterwards. “If you drop Warner, he will not spare you. We didn’t bowl well in a big-scoring ground.”

The spotlight will fall sharply on Usama Mir, who was drafted into the side in place of Shadab Khan, as he dropped a dolly when Warner was on 10. With the ball, the leg-spinner went on to concede 82 runs in his nine overs while failing to pose any sort of questions to Warner and Marsh.

But the buck doesn’t stop at Usama.

On a wicket, which required bowlers to attack the stumps and avoid offering width, Pakistan pacers Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf were constantly wayward.

Only the spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi, stood out with a performance of 5-54, compared to Hasan’s 0-57 and Haris’ 3-83 off eight overs each.

Hasan and Haris were subject to drives, flicks, cuts and pulls by Warner and Marsh as the duo fell just 23 runs short of the World Cup opening record of 282 by Sri Lanka’s Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan against Zimbabwe at Pallekele in 2011.

It was nevertheless Australia’s highest opening partnership at a World Cup and Pakistan’s bowling coach Morne Morkel admitted that his charges had forgotten the script.

“Hitting the deck and staying in line with the stumps stay a key point in discussion among us during training sessions,” Morkel told reporters after the match. “We gave too much room to the batters at a lot of occassions, which, on such surfaces in India, doesn’t really help.”

Morkel admitted Pakistan were still trying to cope with the loss of pace sensation Naseem Shah, who was sidelined with injury just before the tournament.

“Naseem executed the role of bowling with the new balls really well and now Hasan and Haris are adjusting to that role,” he said. “They are working really hard on that and they will turn up with better performances in the upcoming matches.”

Babar was more brutal in his assessment. “The first 34 overs in the bowling and fielding cost us,” he said, referring to the point where Pakistan finally ended the Warner-Marsh stand.

The 134-run opening partnership between Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique gave Pakistan hope of pulling off a record chase. But Babar’s inability to show up on big occasions and Adam Zampa’s brilliance with the ball saw them crumble under pressure.

On Saturday, Pakistan depart for the hot and humid southern city of Chennai where they face Afghanistan and South Africa during the next week.

At the Chepauk, conditions will be tougher for the batters and Pakistan need to bring their A game to revive their faltering campaign.

“We started well … we got small partnerships but needed big ones in the middle overs,” said Babar. “Honestly, we have to get up to the mark in the first ten overs with ball and partnerships in the middle with bat.”

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2023