Australia claims victory over Pakistan at the MCG to kick off the domestic cricket summer

After almost missing out on a sure win, the extremely aggressive Australian managed to beat Pakistan by two wickets in the first one-day international at the MCG.

With just 204 points, Australia collapsed to 6-139 in the 21st over when Rauf missed the halfway line as the hosts tried to end the game as quickly as possible.

But captain Pat Cummins (32*), playing his first ODI since last year's stunning World Cup final triumph, was there again at the end in a tight chase as Australia finished with 99 balls to spare.

One of the best quicks of his generation, Cummins has quickly become a specialist run-chaser over the last 18 months, having been involved in two narrow Test victories and three ODI victories.

Haris Rauf (3-67) continued his love affair with the MCG as he breathed life into a straight-line chase by dismissing Marnus Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell in successive balls.

The 30-year-old failed to add another MCG hat-trick to the one he scored for Melbourne Stars in the BBL in 2020, but his fiery spell left the passionate Pakistani fans, who made up the majority of the 25,831 in the BBL, for cheering crowd.

Australia's shot selection let them down, with Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Inglis, Labuschagne and Aaron Hardie all falling in ways they would regret.

Inglis, who has made an impressive start to the domestic season, squandered a good start with 49 points.

Hardie (10) inexplicably gave himself space to hit the ball offside but was bowled out instead with 25 overs left.

Australia's World Cup heroes Travis Head and Mitch Marsh are on paternity leave and will sit out all three games.

Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short failed to impress as they tried to secure a place as Head's opening partner ahead of next year's Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

Pakistan used only four bowlers – all quicks – but conceded 21 extras, 17 of which were wides.

Earlier, star paceman Mitchell Starc reached 100 ODI wickets faster than any other bowler in Australia, breaking Brett Lee's long-standing record.

Starc removed both Pakistan openers – Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique – setting the tone for Australia as they bowled out the tourists for 203.

The left-armer – who has the fourth-most ODI wickets for Australia, behind only Glenn McGrath, Lee and Shane Warne – started the international summer in threatening form.

Starc – who had a brief break from the field to deal with cramps – nailed his line and length to finish with 3-33 after dismissing Shaheen Shah Afridi (24) in his 10th over.

He took his 100th wicket in Australia in his 54th match, one better than Lee's 55.

With Australia using eight bowlers after Cummins won the toss, legspinner Adam Zampa (2-64) was the only other bowler to take multiple wickets, but managed 18 runs in his 10th over after being bowled around by Naseem Shah MCG was hit.

The Pakistani quick went into the game with just 31 ODI runs in his career but smashed 40 in an explosive innings that also included four sixes.

Pakistan landed in Australia amid off-field turmoil after respected white-ball coach Gary Kirsten resigned from his post without actually taking charge in an ODI.

In their first ODI since last year's World Cup, Pakistan struggled to gain momentum and batted more like a 50-over match in the 1990s.

Babar Azam (37) and new Pakistan white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan (44) tried to post a competitive total but were never able to push the run rate high enough.

AAP