Australia 217/5 [G J Maxwell 76, DA Warner 29, GJ Bailey 28, Zulfiqar Babar 2/52] beat Pakistan 215 All out [ Sarfraz Ahmed 65, Ahmed Shehzad 61, Asad Shafiq 29, Fawad Alam 20*, MG Johnson] by 5 wickets.
Man of The Match: GJ Maxwell
Should we say formidable Australia is too good for awful Pakistan? Or it would sound much better if we say Pakistan Cricket team at their home away from home in UAE now is no match for Australia. It was a hot day at Dubai. On a slow low unresponsive wicket Misbah won the loss and without any hesitation elected to bat. The dull surface took away much of the venom of probing Australian attack. Even otherwise lethal Johnson was also not looking menacing. Pakistani openers Shehzad and Sarfraz came with right ideas. They had a match plan in mind and were bravely putting that into place. Bailey resorted to spin attacks of Doherty and Lyon a bit early. But Pakistani openers were not letting them pitch on the length they would have loved to pitch. After a long while Pakistani opening partnership which has a dismal record (even below Afghanistan and Bangladesh) was prospering. The pair kept rotating strikes and striking odd boundaries here and there. But two vital blows after they recorded a very rare century partnership Doherty and Johnson put paid to Pakistani endeavor of posting a challenging total. From a zone of comfort at 0/126 after the 25th over the well-known crumbling of Pakistan batting was triggered. They failed to play out even their full quota of 50 overs and got all out at a modest 215 all out. Australia batted sensibly and overhauled easily the target in 43.2 overs scoring 217/5. With one ODI to spare and series already won Australia is on course of shaming Pakistan with a Kangaroo wash.
Pakistan usually proves a good challenger for any team at UAE. Hot climate, slow, low bouncy and at times turning track favor their style of cricket. But the present Australian team appears to have answers to all possible questions that Pakistanis may ask them. They have blasters in Warne, Bailey, Maxwell and Flinch. They have good players of spin like Smith and Haddin. Australian bowling may be a bit thin. But Johnson with his pace is threat to any batting side anywhere in the world. Lyon, Dohery and Maxwell are fast learning the art of spinning better against sub continental sides. Australian fielding is always sharp and agile. Against such a side present Pakistan team has little in their armory to offer. Batting does not have the quality and depth, bowling does not have penetration and variation. To challenge an Australian team at least 4 quality bowlers are essential. The present team excepting man mountain Irfan and Afridi can hardly cause any worry to Australian batting. Such a team cannot compete against Australia.
Misbah was lucky with the lucky and was distinctly happy the way his openers stuck to their task in laying their foundation. The openers could successfully blunt the new ball and stitched together a century partnership at a good pace. They could assist in posting a challenging total if one of them could stay longer. On such a wicket after initial 15-20 overs batting gets a bit dodgy especially taking start and keeping the momentum going After Shehzad and Sarfraz giving them good start Misbah could send Umar Akmal to try and bat out Australia from the match. He is the only quality batsman now in the side. Who can hurt opponents and if situation permits he must be given maximum overs to bat. But for reasons best known to Misbah followed the traditional way. Sarfraz was sweeping well and Shehzad looked aggressive from the start .But attempting to play an aggressive stroke against Doherty Shehjad lost his wicket at a time when the partnership was going great at 126. Spurred by this success Bailey brought back his ace Johnson who responded removing Sarfaraz with his first delivery in new spell. Two new batsmen Asad Shafiq and Misbah failed to maintain the momentum getting bogged down. Pakistan appeared to lose the initiative. The run out of Misbah at a crucial stage hurt Pakistan. Umar Akaml coming at number 5 had to try to lift the team from the hole. In the process he holed out to another Johnson first delivery of a new spell. Pakistan lost the way and could not recover. These days Pakistan batting is so thin that a tail wagging is also unimaginable. Six Pakistani batsmen together could only add 15 to 200 scored by the other five. Australia is such a team that never gives up. If given a snip they grab with both hands and becomes relentless.
A target of 216 could never bother Australia on such a docile wicket and against an innocuous Pakistan attack. They went about their business very professionally. Though Flinch, Smith and Warner could not hurt much this time Maxwell was in his element .After Pakistan managing to reduce Australia to 3/72 in the 14th Over Maxwell and Bailey paired on a match winning fourth wicket partnership of 86 batting sensibly till Bailey got himself run out. Maxwell went on to win the match with an unbeaten 76 in 81 balls with 9 fours and a six. Australia won the match by 5 wickets with plenty of overs left.
With the series already won Australia looks well set to give a Kangaroo Wash to Pakistan. The Pakistan team looks dispirited. They lack self-belief and are looking down the barrel. It needs to do something new, something different. Business as usual strategy cannot lift the team from where it is now. Australia on the other hand is looking good for their home encounters against stronger South Africa and India and later for ICC World Cup.
BDST: 0931 HRS, OCT 11, 2014
