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Rauf, Ayub hand Pakistan first ODI win in Australia since 2017
Harris Rauf ripped through Australia’s middle-order for second consecutive game, and this time it wasn’t in vain as a sparkling innings from Saim Ayub led Pakistan’s charge to a series-levelling nine-wicket victory at the Adelaide Oval with a mammoth 23.3 overs to spare.
This was a complete hammering of the ODI World Champions. After his hair-raising spell in Melbourne, Rauf ran through the hosts’ batting – his delivery to remove Marnus Labuschagne was particularly superb – to finish with the second five-wicket haul of his ODI career. Then, after an initially cautions start to the chase by Ayub and Abdullah Shafique the former blossomed into an innings of spectacular strokes, not least a pick-up against a pick-up flick off Mitchell Starc that went into the stands.
Ayub had made just 7 from 27 balls when he punched away a square drive against Josh Hazlewood and from there he was away. He magnificently deposited Pat Cummins and then Starc into the crowd before slog-sweeping another off Adam Zampa’s third delivery. Given a life on 47 when Zampa spilled a chance at deep point, his fifty came from 52 balls and a maiden century was on offer before he sliced to short third with job all-but done to end a rollicking opening stand of 137.
Pakistan’s win, sealed when Babar Azam pulled Zampa for six, sets up a series decider in Perth on Sunday against what will be an Australia side lacking their Test players who won’t travel in order to prepare for the Tests against India. Australia will be captained for the first time by Josh Inglis.
Steven Smith’s 35 was the top score in a poor batting display on a pitch that had a good covering of grass but didn’t warrant such a collapse, as Pakistan’s run chase later confirmed, with Australia falling from 79 for 2 to 163 all out. By the end of it, Rauf had figures of 17-0-96-8 across two innings, his pace continuing to cause uncertainty in the footwork of several of Australia’s batters.
Four of Rauf’s wickets came with the help of catches by captain Mohammad Rizwan who equaled the record for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in an ODI (six) although a late dropped chance meant the standalone record slipped through his fingers.
Given the small target there was no run-rate pressure on Pakistan and the openers played sensibly against the new balls which continued to nibble around. They were aided by a ball from Starc which climbed away for five wides and four overthrows when Jake Fraser-McGurk missed a shy that would have run out Shafique.
As Ayub blazed away Shafique watched on, but later joined the fun with a swept six off Zampa and a beautiful pull against Hazlewood on the way to a 57-ball fifty. Australia’s ODI big four had no response.
After being put into bat, their new-look opening pair had again been unconvincing. Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short each had the chance to defend their style in the lead-up to Adelaide, talking of the backing they have from the coaches to be ultra-aggressive, but they were in the pavilion inside seven overs.
The initial signs from Fraser-McGurk had been promising in the second over when he cracked three boundaries, including one particularly eye-catching back-foot cover drive, but he was pinned lbw by Shaheen Shah Afridi as he looked to drive a full delivery. Short should have fallen on 8 when Shaheen spilt a comfortable catch on the deep-square-leg rope, but it wasn’t overly costly for Pakistan. Shaheen had a touch of fortune in making amends when Short cut a wide delivery to cover where Babar held a sharp catch.
Australia’s early tempo continued to be brisk as Smith again looked in good touch, including a pulled six off Mohammad Hasnain, although he was fortunate to escape on 14 when a cut shot against Rauf burst through the hands of Saim Ayub at point.
Rauf, though, wasn’t to be denied for long. His first wicket wasn’t a classic as Josh Inglis got a glove on a pull down the leg side, but after that he was very classy. Labuschagne received a perfect Test-like delivery which straightened from around off stump, forced him to play, and took the edge to Rizwan.
Aaron Hardie fell in similar fashion although he was playing forward to a fuller delivery and the last of Australia’s frontline batters departed when Glenn Maxwell, after one reverse sweep for six off Ayub, dragged on an attempted pull.
Between Rauf’s incisions, Hasnain claimed the key wicket of Smith who he was confident had been out the ball before he departed. Smith shuffled across his crease and was mighty close to being lbw – the DRS showing it to be umpire’s call while hitting a decent chunk of leg stump – but next ball Smith got a top edge slashing at a short, wide delivery.
Naseem Shah claimed his first wicket when he found Starc’s outside edge and Rauf’s fifth arrived with a top edge from Cummins.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 169 for 1 in 26.3 overs (Saim Ayub 82, Abdullah Shafique 64*, Adam Zampa 1-44) beat Australia 163 in 35 overs (Steven Smith 35, Harris Rauf 5-29, Shaheen Sha Afridi 3-26) by nine wickets
[Cricinfo]
Spanish police have seized what is thought to be a national record haul of cocaine from a ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
Between 30,000 to 45,000kg were found when the Civil Guard intercepted a freighter in international waters, the body’s main union, the AUGC, announced. It called the move a “historic blow to drug trafficking”.
The vessel was intercepted off Spain’s Canary Islands on Friday and around 20 people were arrested, the AUGC told the AFP news agency. It had travelled from Sierra Leona and was on its way to Libya.
The Civil Guard has declined to give details of the investigation for legal reasons.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters in Madrid that the seizure was “one of the biggest, not only nationally but internationally”.
The Civil Guard shared a photograph on X showing the drugs stuffed into the hold of the intercepted vessel.
“Today history is being written in the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard,” it wrote.
“Intercepted in international waters the largest known seizure: between 30,000 and 45,000 kg of cocaine on board a freighter.”
While the boat was headed to Libya, AFP reported that the pattern of previous operations suggests that it was due to offload the drugs onto smaller vessels for distribution in Europe.
In January, Spanish authorities made its biggest seizure of cocaine at sea from a ship that was carrying almost 10 tonnes.
[BBC]
Three people have died and a UK national is seriously ill in hospital after a suspected hantavirus outbreak on a small cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The operator of the MV Hondius ship, tour company Oceanwide Expeditions, said a Dutch husband and wife, as well as a German national, had died but the cause has not yet been established.
However, the Dutch company said hantavirus has been confirmed in the case of the 69-year-old UK national who is in intensive care in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Hantavirus is usually passed to humans from rodents via their faeces, saliva or urine. It can cause severe respiratory illness. Rarely, it can be transmitted between people.
The MV Hondius vessel is currently off the coast of Cape Verde and has 149 people onboard.
Oceanwide Expeditions said there were also two crew members on board “with acute respiratory symptoms, one mild and one severe”.
They were of British and Dutch nationality and both required urgent medical care, it said. It said it had not been established that hantavirus had been confirmed in the pair. And it added that no other persons with symptoms had been identified.
Negotiations are in progress with local authorities following what Oceanwide Expeditions described as “a serious medical situation”.
Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa’s minister of health, said of the British patient that he was critical and had been admitted to a private facility.
“He’s being taken care of. As you know, hantavirus, like all viruses, don’t have any specific treatment, so they are giving symptomatic treatment and support as much as they could.”
He said health workers and anyone who had contact with the patient would now be traced and tested.
Outlining a timeline, the company said a passenger had become unwell while onboard and died on 11 April.
His cause of death could not be determined, and his body was taken off the ship after it docked at St Helena on 24 April.
The passenger’s wife also disembarked on St Helena and the firm said it was told she had become unwell during the return journey and later died.
“At this time, it has not been confirmed that these two deaths are connected to the current medical situation on board,” it added.
On 27 April, the firm said, another passenger – the British national – became seriously ill and was “medically evacuated” to South Africa.
The 69-year-old remains in a critical but stable condition in Johannesburg after it was confirmed a variant of hantavirus had been identified.
The firm added that on Saturday, a third passenger onboard MV Hondius died.
The cause of death has not been established, Oceanwide Expeditions said. It confirmed the passenger was German.
Oceanwide Expeditions said the cause of the deaths were being investigated.
“The disembarkation of passengers, medical evacuation and medical screening require permission from, and co-ordination with, the local health authorities,” it said. “Local health authorities have visited the vessel and assessed the situation.
“The medical transfer of the two ill persons on board has not yet taken place.”
It added that the option of sailing on to Las Palmas or Tenerife was being considered “to be the gateway for disembarkation, where further medical screening and handling could take place”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was “acting with urgency” to support the MV Hondius, and thanked South African authorities for taking care of the British patient.
WHO’s regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, said: “I am in close contact with our teams to ensure a co-ordinated, science-based response.
“Hantavirus infections are uncommon and usually linked to exposure to infected rodents.
“While severe in some cases, it is not easily transmitted between people. The risk to the wider public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions.”
According to the South African government, MV Hondius departed from Ushuaia in southern Argentina about three weeks ago, before it completed its journey to Cape Verde, where it is anchored outside the capital, Praia.
It is described as a 107.6m (353ft) polar cruise ship, with space for 170 passengers in 80 cabins, along with 57 crew members, 13 guides and one doctor.
One passenger onboard the MV Hondius, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC: “The latest word is that a plane is on its way and once it gets here three people will be evacuated from the ship and flown straight to Europe.
“Then the rest of us will almost certainly sail to the Canary Islands.
“The Cape Verde authorities clearly want nothing to do with us. This is what we’re hearing from the captain and staff. From what I can see the mood (on the ship) is pretty good.
“Only one person has been tested (the one now in South Africa) and he tested positive for hantavirus. So, we don’t actually know yet if the other cases are that or something unrelated.
“If they are all hantavirus then the transmission is a bit mysterious. We’ve been informed that there are no rodents on board, and person-to-person transmission is difficult/rare.
“Hopefully the other patients on board will be tested soon and then we’ll know better what’s going on.”
President of the Cape Verdean Public Health Institute, Maria Da Luz, said passengers would not be disembarking in Cape Verde in order to protect the local population, Cape Verde’s media outlet A Nacao reports.
Oceanwide Expeditions said strict precautionary measures were in process on board, including isolation measures, hygiene protocols and medical monitoring.
“All passengers have been informed and are being supported,” it said.
“Oceanwide Expeditions is in close contact with those directly involved and their families, and is providing support where possible.”
Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles told the BBC the time between people being exposed to hantavirus and showing symptoms could be anywhere from one to eight weeks.
“With this incubation period are we going to see more people coming down with the disease in the next days and weeks?”
The UK Foreign Office told the BBC it was monitoring reports, and ready to support British nationals.
Hantavirus was in the headlines last year after the wife of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman died from a respiratory illness linked to hantavirus in March 2025.
[BBC]
President Donald Trump says the US struck seven Iranian “fast boats” after vowing to help stranded vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command (Centcom) says it has used helicopters to destroy Iranian small boats. “Earlier today, Sea Hawk and U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters were used to eliminate Iranian small boats threatening commercial shipping”, Centcom writes in a social media update.
Iran’s military said it fired warning shots at American warships. The US Central Command denies a claim in Iranian state media that Iranian missiles hit a US destroyer.
Meanwhile, the US says Navy destroyers and US-flagged merchant ships have sailed through the waterway, with Iran claiming this is “entirely false”.
Shipping company Maersk has told the BBC that one of its US-flagged commercial vessels has successfully exited the Strait of Hormuz under US military protection.
In a statement, Maersk says the transit was “completed without incident, and all crew members are safe and unharmed”.
The ‘Alliance Fairfax’, it says, had been unable to leave the Gulf since February 2026, when conflict between Iran and the US began. Maersk says it was contacted by the US military and offered support. After the “development of a comprehensive security plan”, the vessel was cleared to leave, according to the statement.
The shipping company says the ship then exited the Gulf “accompanied by US military assets” and thanks them for their “professionalism and effective coordination” in making the operation possible.
Elsewhere, the UAE says it is defending itself against “missile and drone attacks originating from Iran” – Tehran has yet to comment
[BBC]
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