Australia grind past Pakistan in opening ODI

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Skipper Pat Cummins kept his cool under pressure with a gritty unbeaten 32 to steer Australia to a nervy two-wicket defeat of Pakistan in the first of three-match ODI series on Monday. Chasing 204, they reached the target with 99 balls to spare at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, surviving a huge scare when they lost three wickets in five balls. “Wonderful match but it got a little tighter than I would have liked it there,” said Cummins. With Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head on paternity leave, the world champions had a new-look opening partnership in Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short.