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Live Cricket Score Pakistan vs Australia, 3rd ODI at Abu Dhabi: Australia win by one run; whitewash series 3-0

Follow the live updates of the third ODI between Pakistan and Australia.

Steve Smith raises his bat after reaching his half-century. Smith scored 77 from 105 balls  hitting three boundaries in the process © Getty Images
Steve Smith raises his bat after reaching his half-century. Smith scored 77 from 105 balls hitting three boundaries in the process © Getty Images

 

Oct 12, 2014

Catch Live Scorecard of Pakistan (Pak) vs Australia (Aus) 3rd ODI here

(Catch live cricket scores and live updates of the match of the 3rd ODI between Pakistan and Australia)

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Glenn Maxwell has been adjudged the ‘Man-of-the-Match’ for the brilliant last over bowled by him that was clinical in securing the narrow win for Australia. Steve Smith has been adjudged the ‘Man-of-the-Series’ for being the highest run-getter in the series with 190 runs from three games, including a century in the first game and a knock of 77 today.

Australia have won the third and final One-Day International (ODI) by a narrow margin of one run and have managed to retain their number-one rank in the ODI rankings. It was a typical case of self-destruction by Pakistan, who managed to get the raw side of a roller-coaster of a match. They managed to restrict Australia to a modest total of 231 from their quota of 5o overs. They were off to a good start courtesy valuable knocks by Ahmed Shehzad and Sarfraz Ahmed. They were cruising with Asad Shafiq and Sohaib Maqsood at the crease. They almost did it due to Zulfiqar Babar’s heroic efforts in the 49th over. All they needed were two runs off the final over. They could have achieved that with a couple of singles. Yet somehow, they managed to goof it up. This performance, especially the shot selection by some of the better batsmen in the side (read Afridi) should serve as a valuable lesson for the Pakistani side ahead of the Tests, and more importantly the upcoming World Cup. Read the match report by Varun Arora by clicking on this link.

The third and fourth balls of the final over go for dots as Irfan misses the line of the delivery completely. Two runs needed off the last ball. Irfan tries to hit slog the ball over mid-wicket, gets caught at gully instead. What a fantastic victory for Australia, who complete a 3-0 sweep. What a way spectacular way for Pakistan to lose the game, that too when they needed a mere two runs off six deliveries.
OUT! Mohammad Irfan c Faulkner b Maxwell 0 (4)
Mohammad Irfan is the last man to walk in as Pakistan are left needing two runs off four balls with one last wicket.
OUT! Zulfiqar Babar b Maxwell 10 (15)
The first ball of the penultimate over bowled by Doherty goes for a single after a bit of confusion. Tanvir sends the second ball down towards backward square leg for another single. Babar manages to steal a couple of runs off the third delivery. Babar narrowly misses playing onto his stumps as the ball takes an edge and runs towards the boundary at third man. Four runs needed of eight balls for Pakistan now. The last thing Pakistan want to do is play a dumb shot at this stage. Babar dispatches the fifth delivery towards the cover boundary, where Smith prevents the ball from crossing over, as Pakistan are now within an inch of a win
There is some major confusion going on at the moment at the Abu Dhabi. Zulfiqar Babar sent the ball towards cover point, where Maxwell collected the ball and sent it towards the non-strikers end. Faulkner failed to hit the stumps in the first opportunity, and broke the stumps in the second, with Babar appearing to have made it. The Aussies did not raise an appeal as they thought they missed the opportunity. It turned out later that they actually managed to get Babar short of crease, though the umpires ruled that it would not be taken to the third umpire due to the Aussies not raising an appeal later. Zulfiqar Babar manages to get the smiles back on the Pakistani faces, even if only temporarily, with a boundary towards fine leg. Sohail Tanvir managed to further it by smashing a huge six off the bowling of Maxwell over long-off.
Pakistan need a run-a-ball from here onwards. Sohail Tanvir and Anwar Ali are both big-hitters of the ball and have guided their teams to victory in a couple of matches in the past, though they face an uphill task here. Three runs come off Richardson’s final over. Anwar Ali is dismissed off the first ball of the 47th over, as he slices the ball towards backward point where Maxwell takes a comfortable catch.
OUT! Anwar Ali c Maxwell b Faulkner 14 (28)
Mitchell Starc takes his first wicket of the day as he removes Umar Amin, who misses the line of the delivery, which is pitched on the off-stump. Amin tries to play it towards the cover region, only for the ball to go through the gap between the bat and the pad. End of a promising 30-run partnership for Pakistan as Amin’s dismissal is surely a huge blow for the home side.
OUT! Umar Amin b Starc 19 (27)
The duo of Shafiq and Anwar Ali are displaying some great running skills as they are taking runs off every opportunity that comes their way. Kane Richardson ends his penultimate over conceding just three runs off it.
Amin manages to get the first boundary of his innings by smashing the ball towards deep square leg and beating Sean Abbott. There is still a chance of a Pakistani win if these two can stick to the crease till the end. They need to bat sensibly of course. The current and required run rate are exactly the same at the moment, 4.64. Pakistan bring up the 200-run mark off the second last ball of the match.
Anwar’s six off the last ball of the 40th over has brought some hopes of a possible victory into the Pakistani camp. The fifth ball of the over gets an inside egde off Anwar’s bat and misses both the stumps and the wicket-keeper’s gloves. Pakistan need 45 runs from 54 balls now.
Afridi’s departure is is perhaps the final blow on Pakistan’s hopes of winning the match. Things have taken a major turn since Sohaib Maqsood’s dismissal, before which Pakistan were cruising. The 40th over bowled by Mitchell Starc goes for a miserly two runs as the Aussie bowlers look to tighten the noose around Pakistan’s neck. The 40 over, Faulkner’s eighth went for eight runs, courtesy a massive six over long-on. Pakistan once again are on the path of self-destruction and have to pull their act and hope for a rescue act from the lower middle-order to keep their hopes of avoiding a whitewash alive.
Shahid Afridi is the latest casualty for Pakistan as he attempts to play an ambitious short-pitched delivery by Richardson, getting a top-edge and getting caught by Steve Smith who run for the catch from mid-on. This comes at a time when the skipper is required to bat sensibly in order to guide his side to victory. Afridi dispatched the first ball towards the boundary, and was starting to grow impatient over the next few deliveries which were dot balls.
OUT! Shahid Afridi c Smith b Richardson 6 (12)
Five runs come off Faulkner’s seventh over as Afridi and Amin look to keep the ones and twos coming in for Pakistan in order to keep the runs flowing. 62 runs are needed from 78 balls, which is not very difficult by modern standards, though Pakistan don’t have much batting left beyond the players at the crease.
Richard Illingworth signals for the batting powerplay at the start of the 35th over as Mitchell Starc comes down the bowl the over. Afridi walks in to bat with a string of poor performance behind him in the recent past. The dashing all-rounder gets off the mark in the third delivery of the over, Pakistan has two new batsmen at the crease. The 36th over gives away four runs, three of which come from extras
Warner has left the field after appearing to be limping in pain, which apparently intensified during the catch that he took to dismiss Maqsood. The umpires called for the drinks break, after which Asad Shafiq was dismissed by getting trapped leg-before off the bowling of James Faulkner in the 35th over. Shafiq walks down to his partner to ask for his opinion and walks back to the pavilion without going for a review, deciding not to waste one as the ball was hitting the leg-stump according to the hawk-eye technonlogy. The hard-hitting Shahid Afridi is the next batsman to walk in.
OUT! Asad Shafiq lbw Faulkner 50 (73)
Maqsood’s dismissal has caused the Pakistani stride to slow down for a bit, though the target is still very much gettable for the home side. Asad Shafiq in the meantime has managed to bring up a personal milestone, his eighth ODI half-century, off the last ball of the 34th over bowled by Glenn Maxwell. Shafiq will have the responsibility of playing a responsible innings from here onwards and guiding Pakistan towards the target.
Australia manage to get the much needed breakthrough of the partnership that was blossoming into a major threat for the Aussies and threatened to take the match away from them. Maqsood once again tries to target the mid-wicket region only to get caught by David Warner, who has been clinical on the field so far, at deep mid-wicket. The partnership between Shafiq and Maqsood was worth 64 runs and will be the main reason for Pakistan’s victory, if they clear the target that is.
OUT! Sohaib Maqsood c Warner b Richardson 34 (46)
Kane Richardson returns to the attack as the Australians are in dire need of a wicket at this stage, while the Pakistanis will hope to see the duo maintaining their flow of runs, even if they need to go slow at this stage. Shafiq strikes the ball powerfully towards the backward square-leg region, where David Warner makes a brilliant dive to save three runs. A mere two runs are conceded off Richardson’s over. The second ball of the 32nd over bowled by Doherty is smashed for a six, once again over deep mid-wicket, by Sohaib Maqsood who is in the mood to hunt for some runs now. The third ball is edged for a couple of runs and the fourth delivery is smashed for a boundary at deep cover. Doherty concedes 14 runs from his ninth over, his most expensive and a great one for Pakistan.
Starc begins the 29th over by bowling over the wicket as he concedes a mere two runs from his over, the first four balls deliveries of which were dot balls. Maqsood takes a single off the first ball of the 30th over to bring up the 50-run partnership between him and Shafiq, who looks to complete his ninth ODI half-century. Maqsood smashes the fifth delivery towards the mid-wicket boundary after getting down on a knee. Six runs come off the 30th over.
Mitchell Starc is brought back into the attack with a hope to undo the partnership with pace, which has survived spin so far. The fourth delivery off Starc’s return over goes for five wides as the ball zooms down Shafiq’s leg side and escapes the clutches of Haddin’s gloves to race towards the boundary at long leg. Nine runs come off the over, a welcome one for Pakistan. Maxwell comes back into the attack to bowl the 28th over. Shafiq slog sweeps the fifth ball of the over to send the ball over square fine lef for a boundary. The last two overs are worth nine runs each. The partnership is now worth 47 runs as Shafiq enters the 40s.
Maqsood hits the fifth ball of the 25th over by Smith quite powerfully, though it ends up getting deflected off Shafiq’s bat towards the cover region for a single. Three runs come off Smith’s over as Pakistan need another 125 runs at the halfway stage of their innings. Shafiq flicks the ball off the second ball of the 26th over of the match, which races towards the mid-wicket boundary to give Maqsood a single. Two runs come off the 26th over as the required run-rate is over five at the moment.
The first ball of the 24th over bowled by Doherty goes for a boundary as Asad Shafiq plays against the spin and sends the ball flying over the heads of the fielders at mid-wicket and brings up the 100-run mark for Pakistan in the process. Sean Abbott in the meantime returns to the field after getting substituted for dropping a sitter off the bat of Shehzad earlier in the match. Doherty concedes a wide off the final delivery of the match as he concedes seven runs off the over.
Pakistan need to desperately preserve their wickets in the middle overs, given that there isn’t much batting left in the lineup. The duo of Shafiq and Maqsood will look to play out the next few overs, especially the overs by Doherty, before they can resume their attacking ways. Steve Smith will come in to bowl the next over, that too for the first time in the series.
The first ball of the 19th over bowled by Richardson gets a top-edge off Asad Shafiq’s bat, which goes over the wicket-keeper’s head and lands safely at long-stop for Sahfiq to collect a couple of runs.The fifth ball of the over goes for a boundary down the leg side. Four runs come off the 20th over bowled by Doherty, who is in the mood to kill at the moment.
Fawad Alam is the third Pakistani bastman to be dismissed as Steve Smith makes a brilliant anticipation of the path of the ball and runs from his position at first slip towards the leg slip to take a fine running catch. Alam goes for a duck as the alarm bells have started to ring for Pakistan. The last ball of the over goes for a dot as the 18th off Doherty turns out to be a brilliant one for Australia, with two wickets for just one run.
OUT! Fawad Alam c Smith b Doherty 0 (4)
Pakistan lose their second wicket, and a rather important one as it is Sarfraz Ahmed who has to walk back to the dressing room. Sarfraz dispatches the ball towards the boundary at deep square-leg, where Mitchell Starc promptly collects the ball and throws it cleanly towards Haddin, who quickly unsettles the stumps. Its a big jolt Pakistan at this stage. Fawad Alam comes in to bat next as Pakistan will hope for some stability among the batsmen at this stage and prevent a case of self-destruction from here onwards, which has plagued the South Asian side for so long in the past.
OUT! Sarfraz Ahmed run out (Starc) 32 (39)
The last ball of the sixteenth over goes for a boundary at long-on, with the ball beating the efforts of Phil Hughes to get the first boundary for Pakistan in more than four overs.Sarfraz has reach the 30-run mark and will look to build from here onwards.
Sarfraz survives a stumping attempt in the fourth delivery of the 14th over, which went to the third umpire for referral and was turned down. The Pakistani batsmen are still going slow at the moment after Shehzad’s dismissal, the run-rate going well below five-an-over.
Australia will look to profit from the first dismissal of the match as the flow of runs, which was leaking during Shehzad’s presence at the crease, will experience a brief cessation. Faulkner bowls one of his more economical over in the match so far, conceding only four runs from it.
The move to bring Xavier Doherty into the attack works big time for the Aussies as the left-arm spinner manages to get the dangerous-looking Shehzad out. Shehzad looks to get some room in order to play a cut, but ends up missing the line of the ball completely and as the ball knocks the off-stump. Asad Shafiq to come in for Shehzad next.
OUT! Ahmed Shehzad b Doherty 26 (41)
The first ball of Maxwell’s second over goes for five wides around the batsmen’s legs, adding to the tally of extras of the Pakistani innings. Pakistan in the meantime have brought up the fifty-run opening stand, a promising start to the side which is 0-2 down the series and is desperately looking to win the final battle of a lost war.
Sean Abbott drops a rather simple catch at mid-on to give Ahmed Shehzad a fresh lease of life. Shehzad makes the Aussies pay in the next delivery as he lofts the ball towards deep cover. Abbott has been made to pay for his folly by getting substituted.
Glenn Maxwell comes in to bowl the ninth over of the match as spin has been introduced in the Australian attack and the opening bowlers, Mitchell Starc and Kane Richardson, have been replaced for now. The first ball goes for a quiet single off Sarfraz. The second ball is swept by Shehzad, who goes down on one knee in the process and collects a couple of runs in the process. The last ball is well-hit by Sarfraz towards deep mid-wicket, where the fielder fails to stop the ball from kissing the rope.
James Faulkner comes in to bowl the eighth over of the match. The third ball of the match is dispatched towards the boundary at deep point. The opener from Lahore repeats the feat in the very next ball as the runs suddenly start flowing for Pakistan. The last two balls of the over go for two runs and a dot respectively as it is the first big over for Pakistan, with eleven runs coming off it.
The first ball of the seventh over goes for a wide, the second wide in the innings so far. The rest of the deliveries are defended by Sarfraz , barring the last ball which is sent towards fine leg so a single for Sarfraz to retain strike in the next over. The required run rate is 4.84 and will touch five if Pakistan do not catch up soon.
Shehzad finds the gap between the fielders at the mid-on region for a couple of runs and survives a run-out scare in the very next delivery. Pakistan are going at a rate of less than four runs per over at the moment.
The runs have mainly been flowing from Sarfraz’s bat so far, with Shehzad scoring just one out of the 14 runs scored at the end of the fourth over. Shehzad attempts to break the shackles in the fifth delivery of the Starc over by pulling the short-pitched delivery oevr mid-wicket, taking three runs as the ball stops right before the boundary line.
Shehzad is takes 13 deliveries to open his account after he sends the ball through the gully towards third man in the fourth ball of the fourth over. Sarfraz sends the fifth delivery towards deep cover for the first boundary of the Pakistan innings. The Pakistani wicket-keeper takes a single off the last delivery to retain the strike in the next over.

Pakistan will look forward to chasing down the total against an Australin attack that is without the services of the fearsome Mitchell Johnson. They home side however will not take things lightly as they are they need to win the match desperately in order to get some moral strength ahead of the Tests and the World Cup.

It was a great comeback performance from the Pakistanis, who were outplayed by the Australians in the solitary T20 as well as in the ODIs so far. Australia were cruising at a score of 102 for the loss of one wicket at one stage, riding on David Warner’s ninth ODI half-century. A spirited show of bowling by the likes of Shahid Afridi and disciplined spells of bowling by the rest of the Pakistani attack during the middle overs was instrumental in restricting Australia to a modest total. It was some big hitting by the likes of Smith, Faulkner and Richardson in the death overs that dragged Australia to a total of 232, when a total of 200 looked difficult for them to accomplish at one stage. Read the innings report by Varun Arora here.

Australia finish at the total that was being predicted since the early stages of the innings. Kane Richardson managed to grab nine quick runs from four deliveries, hitting a four off the last ball towards deep cover as Tanvir conceded ten runs off the last over to end with figures of 10-1-40-3
The second-last Aussie wickets falls of the first ball of the final over of the Australian innings as James Faulkner attempts a slog off a delivery that was short-pitched, but could not connect ideally as he got caught by Umar Amin, who had earlier taken a brilliant catch, at deep mid-wicket.
OUT! James Faulkner c Amin b Tanvir 33 (42)
Tanvir comes in to ball the penultimate over of the match and starts off with a couple of bouncers to unsettle Faulkner at the crease and prevent him from going for any big hit.The third delivery is hit towards long on. where Ahmed Shehzad makes a valiant dive to prevent the ball from crossing the boundary and saving two runs in process. Faulkner finally manages to connect in the fourth delivery, where he smashes the ball over the fielder’s head at long-on. The fifth delivery goes for a wide as Irfan’s is starting to signs of pressure, giving away a full toss as well. The second-last delivery is another dismissal as Faulkner attempts to send the ball down the track, only for Irfan to make a brilliant stop and catch Starc well outside his crease and make a direct hit towards the stumps at the non-strikers end.
OUT! Mitchell Starc run out (Irfan) 5 (7)
Shahid Afridi comes in to bowl his final over of the innings and the 48th over of the match. The first ball is defended by Mitchell Starc, who gets an inside edge in the second one to get a quick single. Faulkner takes a couple in the third delivery of the over. Fawad Alam made a good save at backward point in the fourth delivery to save a couple of runs. Starc misfires in the fifth delivery, getting a leading edge the sends the ball high over mid-off, where it falls at no-mans land. Seven runs off Afridi’s final over.
With three overs left for the Australian innings to wind up and three overs left, its now or never for Australia to produce some big runs and get to a fighting total. James Faulkner, as history would suggest, is perfectly capable of doing that and will look to unleash a few big hit, or perish trying, in the remaining 18 deliveries of the match.
The first delivery of the 46th over is adjudged a front-foot no-ball, giving Steve Smith a free-hit, the only of its kind in the Aussie innings so far. The Free-hit turns out to be a waste for the Australians as Smith misses the line of the delivery completely in a attempt to smash the delivery towards the leg-side, getting his stumps rattled in the process. Faulkner and Smith grab a couple of twos. Smith loses his off-stump in the fourth ball of the 46th over. Smith’s dismissal should be the biggest blow for Australia in the slog overs as they have lost a set batsman. Smith was going fro the big hits when he missed the line of the ball completely and got his off-stump rattled. End of a well-paced innings by Smith.
OUT! Steve Smith b Tanvir 77 (105)
Smith continues his quest for the three-figure mark as Zulfiqar Babar comes in to bowl the 44th over, and concedes only three runs from it as he ends his quota of overs for the match, conceding 42 runs without taking a wicket. The outfield in the meantime continues to be quick as the ball races towards the boundary in a jiffy, which however gets stopped by one fielder or the other. The last ball of Irfan’s eighth over goes for a boundary off the bat of Faulkner, who finally announces his intentions to attack the bowlers. Ten runs come off the 45th over, a big improvement for the Australians as they look to score as many runs as they can in the last five overs.
Smith sends the first ball of the 42nd over bowled by Anwar Ali towards the boundary at deep-fine leg, the first boundary in 82 deliveries and his second boundary of the match. Takes a single of the second delivery to bring Faulkner to the strike, who keeps the singles going for his side. Smith is now showing signs of flexing his arms and is in a do-or-die mood at the moment, realising the mounting pressure on his shoulders. Shahid Afridi comes in to bowl the 43rd over, his penultimate over, as Smith and Faulkner are currently dealing in singles.
The projected score stands at 206 for the Aussies at the moment, which shouldn’t be a difficult target for Pakistan to chase down given the fact that there is not threat of Mitchell Johnson’s fiery spells of bowling. Smith is on 62 at the moment and will aim for his second ODI ton in the remaining course of the Australian innings.
Tanvir’s eight over of the match costs him a mere run as Pakistan are in full control of the proceedings at the moment. Steve Smith and James Faulkner are Australia’s last hopes at the moment for a decent total on the scorebard, although the Aussie tailenders are known to contribute with valuable knocks in the death overs. Pakistan on the other hand will look to tighten the noose on Australia’s throat with their bowling, which is showing signs of discipline at the moment. The 40th over to be bowled by Anwar Ali will be the last over of the batting powerplay, which has been a brilliant session for Pakistan as they managed to take two wickets and conceded just seven runs so far to turn the tide of the match.
The Aussies lose their sixth wicket as Brad Haddin throws his wicket away as he gets run out for which he could have been a little more cautious. Smith sends the ball down to mid-on, where Anwar collects and makes an accurate throw at the stumps at the non-striker’s end, where Haddin is an inch short. Great over by Mohammad Irfan so far.
OUT! Brad Haddin run out (Anwar) 2 (6)
A lot depends of Steve Smith at the moment if the Aussies hope to post a challenging target for the Pakistanis to chase. The duo of Smith and Hughes are doing some damage-control at the moment with a steady partnership buidling between them. Umpire Richard Illingworth has signalled for the batting powerplay at the start of the 36th over, which means only three fielders are allowed inside the inner circle. Sohail Tanvir is brought back to the attack. Tanvir removes Phil Hughes is removed off the bowling of Tanvir in the third ball of the over as getting Tanvir into the attack has worked for Pakistan. Hughes has a quick word with Smith and goes for the review, which turns out to be in Pakistan’s favour.
OUT! Phil Hughes lbw Tanvir 5 (14)
Smith paddles the second ball of Zulfiqar Babar’s sixth over of the match to bring up his second fifty-plus score of his ODI career. A very good over for the Pakistanis as only three runs come off it. The projected score for Australia shows 227, which is a below-par score for this track. Four runs come off the 34th over bowled by Afridi as the umpires call for the second drinks break of the innings.
Maxwell’s dismissal is the latest blow in the Aussie innings as Pakistan need to seize the initiative right now if they are to restrict them to a total of around 200 at the end of 50 overs. Smith in the meantime is nearing the half-century as Hughes is looking to settle in at the crease. Babar is to return to the attack for the 33rd over.
Shahid Afridi picks his second wicket of the match as Pakistan manage to remove another dangerous batsman, although the main threat in the form of Steve Smith still remains. Tried to slog it over mid-wicket, only to get caught by a running Umar Amin in spectacular fashion near the boundary. Phil Hughes to come in next as Australia lose their fourth wicket, and the situation looks sticky for the Aussies from this point.
OUT! Glenn Maxwell c Umar Amin b Afridi 20 (22)
Maxwell brings up the first boundary in sixty-two balls as he slogs the delivery over mid-wicket off the bowling of Afridi , who has been the most economical bowler so far for Pakistan,to cross the boundary rope after one bounce. Maxwell colllects two runs off the final delivery as ten runs come off the 28th over of the match. A disappointment for Afridi indeed. The 29th over bowled by Anwar Ali fetches Australia six runs as Smith is nearing the half-century mark.
Five runs were conceded from Afridi’s fourth over, who has been the pick of the bowlers in the Australian innings so far with figures of 4-1-13-1. The 27th over by Tanvir too is an economical one, conceding only two runs in the process, as the Aussies are going slow at the moment and will look to cover up in the later overs. Sxi-an-over from this point will get them past the 250-run mark. On another note, Shahid Afridi is third in the list of most caught-and-bowled dismissals, getting 24 such dismissals in his 18-year career and only behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Chris Harris in the list.
The 24th over by Afridi goes for only two runs as the pressure has suddenly mounted on Australia with the run-rate falling below five. Sohail Tanvir comes in to bowl the 25th over of the match as the Australian innings has reached the halfway mark so far, with both teams equally poised to wrest control of the match from this point. Four runs off the 25th over.
The third wicket falls for Australia as things are beginning to look a little critical for the Aussies now that their leader is back in the dressing room for a duck. Bailey tried to play the extra bounce by Irfan, playing a cut which sends the ball towards Shehzad, who rarely drops a catch, at point. Maxwell walks down the pitch to save his side from the sudden jolts.
OUT! George Bailey c Shehzad b Irfan 0 (3)
Mohammad Irfan returns to the attack in hope of getting a much-needed breakthrough for Pakistan, as the partnership looks threatening at the moment and could take the match away from them if not contained at the moment. The fifty partnership is brought up with a flick from Warner’s hip towards square fine-leg. This also happens to be the second fifty-plus partnership for the pair in four innings. Warner also brought the 100 up for Australia with an attempted pull, that results in a single. Three runs conceded at the end of Irfan’s over. Shahid Afridi removes the dangerous looking Warner in the fourth ball of the 22nd over as Pakistan as he bowls a well-flighted delivery, which Warner manages to return towards the bowler for Afridi to take a simple catch.
OUT! David Warner c & b Afridi 56 (63)
The Aussies have managed to recover well from the blow of Finch’s dismissal as the partnership between Warner and Smith is nearly worth 50 runs now. The nineteenth over bowled by Anwar goes for five runs. Stand-in skipper Shahid Afridi comes in to bowl the 20th over of the match, giving away the ones and twos to end the over by conceding six runs.
The first four deliveries are sent to various parts of the ground for singles, while the last two deliveries of the over by Anwar Ali fail to get any additional runs for Australia. The first drinks break for of the match at the end of the 17th over as the players look to cool down for a bit. Babar comes down to bowl his fifth over, the first ball of which goes for a massive six! Warner goes down on one knee and slogs it over deep mid-wicket as he brings up the first six of the match. The six also brings up Warner’s ninth ODI half-century in the process, that too in 47 deliveries. Warner has been in good form throughout the series and has only carried it into the final ODI as well. Eight runs off the 18th over.
Warner pulls the third delivery of Anwar’s fourth over of the match for a couple of runs at the square-leg region. Not a single extre conceded by the Pakistanis so far in the innings, which is a great improvement for the ‘home’ side. Warner dances down the track and sends the first ball of the 16th over towards the mid-off region. Good use of the feet by Smith in the last ball of the over, though it fetches him only a single.
The third ball of the 13th over goes for a single towards the square-leg region. The over by Anwar is turning out to be a tight one as it has consisted of three singles and dot balls respectively. The 14th over of the Australian innings goes for 4 runs as Babar’s third over of the match is much better than the first one.
After a tight 11th over by Anwar Ali which goes for only a run. Steve Smith announces his intentions to hit back at the Pakistanis with a flick off the second delivery of Babar’s over for the ball to fly past the fielders at mid-wicket for a boundary. He collects two runs off the last delivery as 12 runs are scored from the 12th over, a rather expensive one for the Pakistanis.
Pakistan finally manage to get the breakthough through the bowling of Anwar Ali as Finch is sent back to the dressing room. Steve Smith, the centurion from the first game, walks in to bat, hoping for another big score. Ali, meanwhile is ecstatic and will be looking to mount the pressure on the Aussies.
OUT! Aaron Finch c Md Irfan b Anwar Ali 18 (34)
Zulfiqar Babar comes in place of Sohail Tanvir as Pakistan make their switch to spin for now. The run-rate is still over five at the moment. Teh Australian dressing room looks pretty relaxed at the moment as the opening partnership is nearly worth 50 runs at the moment. There is an lbw appeal in the third delivery of the over, and a rather long one, for the dismissal of Finch, which is turned down by the umpire. The last ball is patted for a single a Finch retains the strike at the end of a very good opening over by Babar.
Misbah-ul-Haq, captain of the side a couple of days ago, now comes in as a substitute fielder in place of Sohail Tanvir in a remarkable change of fortune. Anwar Ali in the meantime replaces Mohammad Irfan in the attack in the ninth over. Meanwhile, Pakistan seem to have tightened the screws on Australia, even if only temporarily as the runs have dried up at the moment. Finch scampers off for a single in the fourth delivery after sending the ball towards short mid-on to break the mini-drought. Warner’s shot in the next delivery sends the ball in the air for a brief while as he collects a single off the fifth delivery, before playing a beautiful cover drive in the last delivery to get a boundary. Seven runs off the over.
The first three balls of the over are blocked as the over turns out to be a tight one so far, in response to the 11 runs that were leaked in the previous one. The run-rate is still going healthy at over five. Misbah-ul-Haq in the meantime watches the match quietly from the stands as his decision of being left from the playing XI is a rather controversial one. The last ball too is blocked as the eighth over is a maiden, a much-needed one for Pakistan.
The first ball of the over is played towards fine-leg by Warner to collect a couple of runs. The third ball is smashed towards the covers as the ball races towards the boundary, with the fielders hardly having to move. The Abu Dhabi ground is definitely the fastest in the UAE.The fourth delivery is dispatched for another boundary, this time towards the mid-wicket. Warner is definitely is now eyeing a big score.
Finch picks the gap beautifully of the second delivery of Tanvir’s third over of the match towards mid-on. The next few deliveries are either defended or blocked by the fielders. Four runs of the over.
The third ball of the over is cut towards point as it races towards boundary and narrowly beats the fielder in the race. Four boundaries in the innings so far. Once again five deliveries of the over are dot balls. Four runs of the over.
The first ball goes for a single while the next delivery of the over is patted towards square leg off the bat of Finch, who collects a couple of runs in the process. The last two deliveries are defended as only three runs are conceded in a over which is good for Pakistan so far.
The second delivery of Irfan’s second over of the match goes for a couple of runs towards the covers, following which the third one flicking off Warner’s leg. Finch defends the fourth delivery and plays a superb cover drive to send the ball through the covers towards the boundary.
The first ball is defended by Warner. The second delivery is beautifully flicked by batsman from New South Wales towards mid-wicket as it beats the fielder towards the boundary rope. The next couple of deliveries are blocked by Warner as Tanvir gets some discipline into his deliveries. The last ball of the over goes for an inside edge from Warner’s bat and runs towards fine leg as Warner collects a single and retains the strike.
The first ball of the match goes for a boundary off the bat of Finch. The shot was well-timed as it outran the fielders at mid-off. The second delivery of the over went for a couple of runs in the mid-on region. The next four deliveries were well-bowled deliveries which were defended to end the first over with six runs on the board. Tanvir to bowl the next over.
The players walk out to bat as the match is set to begin any moment now. Aaron Finch is on strike and Mohammad Irfan will open the bowling for Pakistan.

Teams:

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith, George Bailey (c), Phil Hughes, Glenn Maxwell, James Faulkner, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson,  Xavier Doherty

Pakistan: Ahmed Shehzad, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Shahid Afridi (c),  Asad Shafiq, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Amin, Fawad Alam, Anwar Ali, Sohail Tanvir, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Irfan

Toss:  Australia have won the toss and have elected to bat in the third and final One-Day International (ODI) at Abu Dhabi. Phil Hughes comes in for Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc for Mitchell Johnson in the Australian lineup. Pakistan have made several changes to their side with Misbah-ul-Haq being replaced by Umar Amin and Shahid Afridi taking over the reigns of captaincy. Wahab Riaz and Umar Akmal are the other players who are being rested for the final one-dayer.

The pitch at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi has a hard-top and will is a batsman’s delight. The team that wins the toss will be expected to bat first

Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s coverage of the third One-Day International (ODI) between Pakistan and Australia at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. Australia have already taken the series with victories at Sharjah and Dubai. This match is a dead rubber and the Aussies may want to try a few things and perhaps bring in some players who warmed the bench. on the other hand, the big news from the Pakistan camp is that Misbah-ul-Haq is sitting out of this game and Shahid Afridi will lead in all probability.

I am Amit Banerjee and will take you through this contest. Though it is an inconsequential game, one can hope there is some great cricket in store so that we have a good day watching cricket.

Squads:

Pakistan: Ahmed Shehzad, Sohaib Maqsood, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shahid Afridi, Raza Hasan, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Umar Amin, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Irfan, Anwar Ali, Wahab Riaz, Zulfiqar Babar, Sami Aslam.

Australia: George Bailey(c), James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin (wk), Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Johnson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Sean Abbott.

Read the key battles to watch out for in this match here

Catch live score and ball-by-ball commentary of the Pakistan vs Australia 3rd ODI here

Complete coverage of Pakistan vs Australia in UAE

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