AUSSIES BEAT PAKISTAN
The Australian cricket team has defeated Pakistan by 3 wickets in the third ODI of the series at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. With this victory, the Kangaroos have won the series by 2-1. The Australian team should be given a lot of credit for performing so well under the subcontinent conditions.
Earlier, Michael Clarke won the toss and invited the Pakistani team to bat first. The Pakistani openers gave a fantastic start to the team again. They looked fluent right from the outset and didn’t let the Aussie bowlers get an early breakthrough. The opening pair added 129 runs for the first wicket and provided a tremendous platform to the middle order.
Shahid Afridi was promoted in the batting order and he came to bat at no. 3. But, he didn’t manage to do his job and got out pretty early. After that, Pakistan lost some quick wickets and was struggling at 185 for 5. Misbah-ul-Haq and Azhar Ali played sensibly and took the team past 225. At the end of the 50th over, the score of Pakistan was 244 for 7. Mitchell Starc was again the star bowler for Australia and he took 4 wickets.
It was not an easy task for the Kangaroos to chase down the target of 245 on a slow track. Michael Clarke surprised everyone by sending David Hussey to open the innings with David Warner. However, the opening pair started well and added 44 runs for the first wicket.
The Australian team lost its way in the middle overs and was in a spot of bother at 108 for 4. But, Michael Hussey again batted superbly and put up two valuable partnerships with Wade and Maxwell for the fifth and the sixth wicket respectively. Hussey got out after making 65 runs, but, before getting out, he had almost secured the victory of Australia. Maxwell also batted well and scored a half century. The young Victorian saw his team home with Mitchell Johnson. Mike Hussey was declared man of the match for his brilliant knock.
