Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Pakistan make clean sweep in T20s vs Aus

Pakistan clinched a 2-0 win in the Twenty20 series against Australia by securing an 11-run victory in the second match at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

Set a target of 163 to level the series, Australia was bowled out for 151 with two balls remaining, Pakistan paceman Mohammad Aamer excelling at both ends of the innings and finishing with figures of 3-27.

David Hussey top-scored with 33 for Australia, while Kamran Akmal (33) and Salman Butt (31) were key figures for Pakistan as it racked up 162-9.

Pakistan won the first match by 23 runs Monday and the series victory will lift the side after a 12-match losing run against Australia in all formats, including a disastrous tour at the turn of the year and a defeat in the World Twenty20 semifinals.


For Australia, the successive defeats followed a 3-2 loss to England in their recent one-day series.
After being set a challenging victory target for the second time in as many days, Australia began its chase by losing its first three wickets in the opening four overs.

David Warner (1) was trapped lbw by Aamer, who also bowled Michael Clarke (30) after the Australia captain had smashed six fours from his 17 balls. Tim Paine was snared by pacemen Shoaib Akhtar for a second-ball duck, Umar Gul taking the catch at midoff.

James Hopes (30) and Hussey steadied the innings with a 50-run partnership before the recalled Hopes was stumped by Kamran Akmal.

Hussey departed when he sent a leading edge back to bowler Saeed Ajmal and with Cameron White (7) having already gone, Australia was in trouble.

The task got even harder when a 14-ball cameo from Michael Hussey (25) ended when he was trapped lbw by Gul. Two run-outs then sealedAustralia's fate.

Earlier, Pakistan had lost its opening wicket on the fourth ball of the innings — just as in Monday's match — when Shahzaib Hasan (0) was trapped in front by David Hussey.

Kamran Akmal came to the crease to join Butt and the pair put on a second-wicket stand of 61 to place Pakistan back in the driving seat.

Butt had hit six fours in his 21-ball knock by the time he top-edged a sweep to White at short fine leg off Steve O'Keefe.

Kamran Akmal was the next to go after mistiming a pull shot off Mitchell Johnson, the ball looping to midwicket where Clarke took an impressive catch.

The dismissal of Shoaib Malik (12) brought Afridi to the middle alongside Monday's man of the match Umar Akmal, and they put on 30 off 20 balls before they were dismissed one after the other by Dirk Nannes.

Wickets then fell at regular intervals as Australia kept Pakistan in check, Steve O'Keefe finishing with 3-29 on his international debut while Nannes had 3-30.

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