Australia clung on to win a thrilling triangular series final against Pakistan by 17 runs at the VRA Ground on Saturday.
Heading into the final 10 overs Pakistan, chasing 193 for victory, were well-placed at 148 for five.
PHOTO: AFP
But after Yousuf Youhana fell for 43 their innings fell away and Pakistan were bowled out for 175 with 17 balls to spare.
Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds, who scored 36, took two for 25 with his occasional off-spinners and effected two run-outs in successive balls, was the man-of-the-match.
Earlier opener Matthew Hayden's patient 59 was the cornerstone of Australia's 192 for seven after the world champions' captain Ricky Ponting won the toss.
Twelve in a row
The result was Australia's twelfth straight win in a one-day final and Ponting told reporters afterwards that experience had helped his side hold their nerve.
"A lot of it comes down to having been in that situation a lot and having won a lot ... I guess that's the sign of a very good side that when you get into big games the good players in the team put their hands up and do the job."
Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer was left reflecting on the run-outs of Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi which destabilized his team's victory pursuit.
"It's disappointing in some ways obviously because we had two stupid run-outs, one bad shot and the rub of the green on a couple of decisions didn't go our way which happens in cricket.
"We were on course to win and we cocked it up," the former South Africa coach added following the climax of a rain-marred warm-up event for next month's ICC Champions Trophy tournament in England.
Hayden put on 61 with unorthodox fellow left-hander Darren Lehmann (40) for the third wicket while fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar took two wickets in the last over and finished with three for 40 from his full quota of 10.
Pakistan made a steady start before opener Yasir Hameed was clean bowled middle stump for 17 by Brett Lee's fifth ball, in the fast bowler's first international match since sustainining an ankle injury in Sri Lanka in March.
Symonds, an occasional off-spinner, struck second ball when left-hander Imran Farhat (17) got a leading edge and was caught by a diving Hayden, who had run forward from slip.
Symonds struck again when he had Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq adjudged caught behind by wicket-keeper Brad Haddin for just seven.
Going into the final 20 overs, Pakistan needed exactly 100 to win.
But the match tilted Australia's way with two run-outs in successive balls in the 30th over.
Malik, on 36, played Lehmann to short third man but was beaten by Symonds's throw to the bowler.
And next ball Afridi went for nought without facing after a mix-up with Youhana saw him dismissed by Symonds's throw to Haddin, Pakistan 93 for five.
Nevertheless, Pakistan required a gettable 45 runs off the last 10 overs.
But Abul Razzaq, going for one big shot too many, holed out against spinner Lehmann to Michael Clarke at long-off for 26 after a stand of 61 with Youhana.
And 154 for six soon became 161 for seven when Youhana was caught behind by Haddin off Hogg for a 57-ball innings featuring one six and three fours.
And then there was no way back for Pakistan.
The outfield had been slowed by several days of successive rain which also made the pitch difficult for strokeplay.
But Hayden made a 104-ball fifty before holing out off Shoaib Akhtar.
The match was the first time the teams had met since Australia began their victorious World Cup campaign in South Africa last year with an 82-run win against Pakistan.
They face each other again next Saturday at Lord's in another prep match for the Champions Trophy.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier