Pakistan win by six wicket

Australia
Adam Gilchrist (wk), Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting (capt), Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Brad Hodge, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken.


Pakistan
Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Nazir, Younus Khan, Shoaib Malik (capt), Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal (wk), Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Asif.


Once again it was a crucial middle-order partnership that went a long way to earning Pakistan their second win of the super eight stage of the ICC World Twenty20 as they defeated Australia by six wickets in Johannesburg.

And once again, an impressive all-round effort from the Pakistan bowlers proved to be another decisive factor in the victory, which has put them on the verge of a semifinal spot in the tournament.

Having won the toss, Pakistan elected to field first and struck early when new kid on the block Sohail Tanvir dismissed Matthew Hayden in the second over for 1 (caught by Younus Khan). Sohail went on to claim two more crucial wickets – those of Adam Gilchrist (for 24) and Michael Hussey (for 37) in a spell that would certainly have elicited a smile on the face of the selectors.

Hussey and Brad Hodge had put together a partnership of 50 off 30 balls in the middle of the innings to steady things for the Australians but some tight bowling from Pakistan saw the mighty Aussies scoring only 14 runs from the final three overs to finish on a rather disappointing total of 164-7.

At a ground that has produced the highest totals of the tournament so far, that was always going to look a little low but Stuart Clark got the Australians in it right from the start, claiming three wickets in his first two overs. He first dismissed Imran Nazir (caught Mitchell Johnson) for 10 and Mohammad Hafeez (caught Michael Clarke) for 15 before removing the danger man from Pakistan’s match against Sri Lanka on Monday, Younus Khan (caught by Brett Lee) for 4.With the Pakistan side struggling on 35 for three by the sixth over, Johnson did further damage by trapping Salman Butt LBW for 11.

So, with their top order a thing of the past, captain Shoaib Malik and Misbah Ul-Haq set about restoring the innings for Pakistan. And that they did in style, both reaching over 50 runs while notching up a partnership of 119 (off 78 deliveries), a fifth wicket partnership record in Twenty20 internationals.

As light rain sifted down on what has otherwise been a consistently sunny Wanderers, the onslaught continued and much to the clearly pro-Pakistan supporters’ delight, the duo reached their target of 165 off a wide ball from Andrew Symonds with five balls to spare. Malik finished on 52 (off 38
balls) not out while man of the match Ul-Haq was unbeaten on 66 (off 42).