Pakistan won the toss and from the outset looked a different unit today largely due to change in captaincy. It was Shahid Afridi who was captaining Pakistan in place of Mohd Yousuf who was rested due to a niggle. The Pakistani’s decided to bat on a good looking pitch but, Ryan Harris continued his golden rise in international cricket as he got Salman Butt poking at one away from his body.

Harris struck in the first over itself. As if that was not enough Mitchell Johnson bowled a delightful over and got rid of Khalid latif caught and bowled again for a duck. Pakistan were caught reeling at 2 for 0. Younis khan and Shoaib Malik hung around for quite a while before Younis khan fished at one from McKay only to be caught by Haddin. Pakistan were in dire straits at 17 for 3 in 10 Overs.

The next 3 Overs were maidens. Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik stitched a 60 run partnership before Mitchell Johnson put on show a brilliant bit of athleticism to run out Shoaib Malik. Fawad alam was next in; and the duo just like the last two matches put on a decent partnership of 82. Wickets fell in a hurry soon then after with Akmal, Afridi and Ahmed all departing in a space of 5 Overs. In the end it was Fawad alam’s brilliance that enabled Pakistan to reach a fightable score of 212. Alam made 63.

It was a pretty modest total and the Aussies looked pretty upbeat about the task ahead of them. They lost Haddin and marsh pretty early on in the piece. Cameron white soon followed suit. But, the trend of the summer continued as it was a culmination of contributions that won Australia the match and not a single stand-out performance (barring Cameron white’s scintillating 100 in the 1st ODI). Today, it was ponting and hussey who were to steer the ship home. Ponting made 55 before he holed out to Umar Akmal at long on. Australia looked a little skeptical in their approach and were continually losing wickets.

Michael hussey has been instrumental in winning Australia the series. He’s made decent contributions in all the matches and his versatility must be lauded. Put the man in at number 4 or 6, over number 20 or 45—Michael Hussey seems to have the game to do it for Australia.

And so he did today. Hussey saw Australia through with the tail ending up on 40 of 46 balls. Australia needed 12 of 12 at the end of the batting power play with Hussey and Hauritz at the crease. Hussey took rana for 9 off the pen ultimate over with some positive running and lusty hitting. It was 3 off 6 when Hauritz was trapped LBW by Rao.

Ryan Harris was Australia’s number ten and he seems to be doing nothing wrong at the moment. He had a swipe at his first ball and managed to clear wide mid-on for a couple.

A lot of drama was seen in the finale of the match. Firstly, it was Shahid Afridi who was seen biting the ball twice which was caught on camera. Reports later suggested that Afridi pleaded guilty to the charges laid down by match referee Ranjan Madugalle. Afridi has been banned for two T20 internationals which means he will miss this Friday’s clash at the SCG as well as the one against England.

The act was caught on camera and the umpires were informed so on their microphones and the ball was immediately changed. Another striking incident was when one of the spectators charged at Khalid Latif. Thankfully, for latif there were no injuries. A very embarrassing moment, for Cricket Australia considering such incidents have been happening quite often. Australia won the match when Harris was caught off a waist high no ball at mid off.

Australia clean swept the Pakistani’s not just in the ODI series but also in the test series. What remains to be seen is whether Pakistan would be able to manage a single win on this tour?

Pakistan came back to Sydney—the same Sydney Cricket ground where they were embarrassed by the same Australian unit. Pakistan tried to lift their morale and change the result this time around. Not to be though.

Mohd Yousuf won the toss for the second time in a row and this time around put Australia in to bat. Australia fielded the same unit that played at the gabba after Michael Clarke (rib injury) was declared fit this morning.

However, Pakistan rung in one change i.e. they brought in Umar Gul in place of Mohd Asif.

The first ball of the match set the tone for what was to come! Shane Watson creamed Aamer through cover point for 4. It was clearly the sign of things to come.

Australian Dominance!!

Watson played some incredible shots through cover, over point and over mid-on. He later accepted in an interview that it was tough to bat if the ball was pitched up. Fortunately for Watson a lot of short balls were bowled which he took full toll of.

Watson played a brilliant pull of Rana Naved where the ball wasn’t too short but he just swatted at it on one knee and got six for it. Watson finally fell to Afridi for 69 but not before giving Australia a strong start.

The Aussies got a bit stuck in the middle over with the spin trio of Afridi, Ajmal and Malik working well for Pakistan. Australia took 84 balls to reach their 3rd fifty and from 80 for 0 after 13 Overs slipped to 138 for 3 after 30 Overs.

It was again Cameron white who rescued the innings for Australia with a powerful half century which got them up to 267 at the end of 50 Overs. White scored 55 with Clarke (25), Hussey (29) and Haddin (27) all chipping in.

Pakistan looked out of sorts from ball one. Australia came out and bowled with admirable discipline at the two Pakistani openers. Both Bollinger and Siddle were immaculate with their lines and lengths.

The duo together conceded just 7 runs in the first two wickets and picked up two crucial wickets including one of former captain Younis khan. Ponting was on the money with his captaincy and field placement. He had a 7-2 field for a short period of time.

The Australian fielders were brilliant with Ponting and Cameron white taking sensational catches at point and slip respectively. Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger and Clint McKay ripped the heart out of the Pakistani batting line up by picking up five quick wickets which left Pakistan struggling at 42 for 5.

The Pakistani batsmen barring Mohd Yousuf showed no kind of resistance and succumbed to the Aussie bowling attack. They were eventually bundled out for a 127 with the skipper Mohd Yousuf making 58 of those.

The wicket really seemed to liven up under lights with a tinge of moisture perhaps due to the dew around. The Australians profited from this and within 38 Overs of the Pakistan innings had them bowled out and ensured a 140 run win.

Another dominant display by the Aussies; another convincing victory and as it looks now another series victory coming their way.
Australia went into the match as favourites; came out giving a pounding!

Australia went into the series on a high after a not dominating but convincing display against the West- Indies. Another toss to Ponting and predictably Australia chose to bat. Australia amassed a massive 454 in good time with the top 6 all contributing.

“The nearly man” (Watson) was again nearly there (century) but missed out again due to some lack luster running falling for 93. Ponting set up an aggressive declaration at 454 keeping in mind the abilities of his bowlers. Pakistan in their first innings were bundled out for 258 barely avoiding the follow on.

They struggled to build regular partnerships not just through the match but throughout the series. In Australia’s second innings the inevitable finally happened Watson got to a century all be it after being dropped on 99; nevertheless he did.

He was the only contributor in the Australian innings and Ponting declared at 225 thus setting up Pakistan 422 to win.

Pakistan were off to a decent start and ended day 4 at 170 for 3 with Skipper Mohd Yousuf at the crease along with young gun Umar Akmal. They were just 252 away from what seemed the impossible—and so it turned out to be as Mitchell Johnson ripped the heart out of the Pakistan batting order by getting rid of Umar Akmal and Misbah-ul haq.

Pakistan were reeling at 170 for 5. Nathan Hauritz made quick work of it and mopped up the tail with his first five-for.

Australia didn’t put a foot wrong throughout the test match. They had won convincingly again by a 170 runs.

Australia VS Pakistan: 2nd test Match

New Year Test and Ponting had won the toss and chosen to bat on an overcast morning at the SCG. It was a gamble which didn’t pay off. Mohd Asif had surely woken up the right side of the bed that morning. Australia were bowled out for a 127 in under 45 Overs. Asif had 6.

In their first innings Pakistan managed 333 with their top 5 all making sizeable contributions. Australia displayed a much better effort in their second innings making 381. At the end of day 3 it was Pakistan’s game.

Australia resumed day 4 at 286 for 8 with Siddle and Hussey at the crease. The duo put on 123 for the 9th wicket giving the Aussie bowlers 176 runs to play with. Australia had fought back—but it was still to be Pakistan, rite?

If you give Australia an inch—they will grab it, and so they did! In a small run chase Pakistan were off to a good start at 34 for no loss. Bollinger got the first break through—Farhat had gone. Iqbal and Butt followed suit as Johnson knocked off to in an over—one of ‘em brilliantly taken by Brad Haddin.

Nathan Hauritz took a splendid return catch of Yousuf. Umar Akmal too tried to hoick at one only to be caught by Johnson. That was indeed the final nail in the coffin. Australia had again come out on top.

Truly, it was a combination of Pakistan failure and Australian brilliance.

After the Sydney fiasco Pakistan had rung in a lot of changes. It was “just the usual” in the Pakistan camp with controversies over the selection of keeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed.

The board sent Sarfraz Ahmed and was staunch on their stance of wanting him to play. Meanwhile, Mohd Yousuf was in full favour of Kamran Akmal playing. As it panned out Akmal was left out leaving Ahmed to make his debut.

For the third time in a row Ponting won the toss and chose to bat again. Critics questioned whether Ponting was still good enough to bat at number three.

Only Ponting was confident in his abilities and a day prior to the test spoke out and maintained he is still the best batsman at 3 in his country. Ponting was having one of his worst home seasons.

He was about to change all of that. Australia lost Katich pretty early in the piece. In came Ponting; a wonderful reception from his home crowd.

Mohd Asif bowled a pretty decent bouncer to Ponting early on only to be dropped by Mohd Aamer at fine leg. Ponting had – had his moment. This was it.

His first fifty was one of the worst one could see Ponting at; nudges plays and misses and also getting hit on the head by an Umar Gul bouncer. Ponting survived all of that.

He then looked as flawless as ever. The drives were back, the pull was back—RICKY PONTING WAS BACK! Ponting went on to score a critic answering 209. He added 300+ with Michael Clarke who hit 166. Australia declared at 519.

Pakistan were off to a decent start before Farhat poked at one away from his body. Pakistan then lost 3 quick wickets and were left reeling at 84 for 4. Salman Butt (102) and Shoaib Malik made (58) the only sizeable contributions as Pakistan were bowled out for 301.

Katich made up for his first innings score by registering his 9th test match century. Ponting too resumed from where he left off in the first innings and the duo set Pakistan a target of 438. Pakistan collapsed for 206 with Khurram Manzoor making 77.

Australia had ended another season on a high.
5 wins out of 6 test matches—pretty satisfying. They would be hoping to replicate the same next time they are back on home shores.

What can Pakistan take out of this series?

Pakistan’s new found youngsters—Umar Akmal and Mohd Aamer—Umar Akmal confirmed in Australia –the trailer (in New Zealand) that his movie was to be a box office hit. On the other hand Mohd Aamer seems to be improving with every match and “fall”!
Pakistan have found back the old Mohd Asif. He is back to his swinging best and put on display a wonderful spell of bowling at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Pakistan seem to have found a steady opening partnership at last in Salman Butt and Imran Farhat.
Note: Pakistan could surely do without their careless running.