A classy and entertaining century from Victorian captain Cameron White has inspired Australia to a five wicket victory over a super competitive Pakistan outfit in the first One Day International at the GABBA.The man they call 'Bear' combined power hitting with finesse to chase down a difficult target of 275. White's 105 off only 88 balls proved to the cricket world that he has the maturity to accumulate runs through singles and also hit big boundaries when needed under pressure. He had wonderful support from Michael Clarke (58) and Michael Hussey (35*).
White has now become a permanent member of the ODI team. Since scoring his first hundred against England last year, he has never looked back. The Victorian has the potential to turn into a Shahid Afridi-like player, with his big hitting and occasional leg spin bowling eerily similiar to the the great Pakistani all-rounder. White is still young and has the potential to take the world by storm and possibly squeeze his way into the test team.
It was fantastic to see Pakistan's competitive edge. They showed plenty of promising signs with both bat and ball throughout the match. Their ODI side looks much better on paper than their test team, with the added inclusions of Afridi (48 off 26) and Younis Khan (46) proving a massive success. Mohammad Aamer again bowled tenaciously, while Salman Butt's 72 was classy. They will be disappointed that they couldn't defend a large total, but they still have another four games to make up for it.
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