Aussies make 239 for 9
2005-02-06 09:07
Sydney - Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn all scored in the 40s on Sunday as Australia reached 239 for nine in the second match of the best-of-three limited-overs cricket finals series against Pakistan.
Gilchrist belted six boundaries and a six, scoring 40 off 30 balls and sharing a 55-run opening stand with Michael Clarke, who continued with skipper Ponting to lift the total to 118 before Australia lost its second wicket.
Clarke scored 38 off 75 balls before he was bowled attempting a sweep against Mohammad Hafeez and Ponting made 41 off 61 before he was caught by Inzamam-ul-Haq of Shahid Afridi's bowling.
The Australian middle-order stagnated, slipping to 166 for five after Darren Lehmann (6) was bowled by Afridi and Simon Katich (5) was run out after a mix-up with Martyn.
Martyn scored 43 off 60 balls until he was out in the 45th over to make the total 206 for six. The Australians lost four wickets for 27 runs in the last six overs before last-wicket pair Brett Lee (14) and Glenn McGrath batted out the 50 overs.
Abdul Razzaq took two wickets, removing Gilchrist and Martyn, but was taken out of the attack in the 49th over when umpire Rudi Koertzen ruled that the Pakistani allrounder bowled two full-toss deliveries in the over.
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan bowled Brad Hogg (13) and Jason Gillespie (0) with the first and second balls of the final over but was denied a hat-trick by McGrath, who got an inside edge down to the boundary on the first ball he faced.
Razzaq returned 2-51, while Afridi had figures of 2-38 off 10 overs and Naved-ul-Hasan had 2-69 off nine.
Australia won the first final by 18 runs at Melbourne on Friday. Pakistan needs a win to keep the series alive.
- SAPA