If there was any doubts about which team were favourites to win the third quarter-final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 between Australia and Pakistan, the Pakistani batsmen laid them to rest. The mercurial men in green hit the self-destruct button every time they seemed like they would take charge to leave themselves defending a paltry 214. Live Scorecard: Australia vs Pakistan, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 quarter-final
Sarfraz Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad got off to a watchful start, putting on 20 in 4.3 overs before Sarfraz was done in by Mitchell Starc. The credit for the wicket ought to go to Shane Watson though, who took a blinder at slip that swerved away at the last moment. Four runs later, Ahmed Shehzad was dismissed by a delivery from Josh Hazlewood that would have made Glenn McGrath weep with joy. It was the out-swinger’s dream: pitching on middle and off, moving enough to take the outside edge, and carrying through to Michael Clarke at slip. Live Updates: Australia vs Pakistan, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 quarter-final
Haris Sohail and Misbah-ul-Haq then performed the usual resuscitation, adding 73 for the third wicket. Misbah looked good, bringing out the big hits at periodic intervals. The slog over midwicket was eventually his undoing though, as he holed out to Aaron Finch of Glenn Maxwell for 34 off 59 deliveries. Haris was out soon after, edging Mitchell Johnson behind to Brad Haddin for 41 off 57. Top 10 batsmen in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
After that it was just a procession, as one Pakistan batsman after the other got in, looked good, and then threw it away with a poor shot. Umar Akmal swiped a rank short ball from Maxwell to Finch at deep midwicket for 20. Shahid Afridi came out all guns blazing, hammering three fours and a six in his 15-ball 23 before smashing one to Finch, again at deep midwicket. Sohaib Maqsood looked to go over cover, and ended up splicing the ball to the fielder instead having scored 29, while Wahab Riaz — the last man with any batting prowess — edged Starc to Haddin to help Starc overtake Mohammed Shami once again as leading wicket-taker of the tournament. Top 10 bowlers in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Pakistan managed to huff and puff to 213 to give their bowlers something to bowl at. But with the pitch at Adelaide looking good for batting, it will require something of a miracle for them to pull this one off. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
Brief scores:
Pakistan 213 in 49.5 overs (Haris Sohail 41, Misbah-ul-Haq 34; Josh Hazlewood 4 for 35, Mitchell Starc 2 for 40) vs Australia.
(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek and Cricket fanatic. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
Written by 
