Kamran Akmal hit an aggressive century to overshadow Shane Watson’s hundred as Pakistan beat Australia by seven wickets at Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday.
The 27-year-old wicketkeeper batsman struck an unbeaten 116 and added a Pakistan record of 198 for the fourth wicket with Misbah-ul-Haq (76 not out) to help his team chase a challenging 251-run target with three overs to spare.
Watson’s 116 not out was the cornerstone of Australia’s 250-4 in 50 overs.
Despite the defeat, Australia took the five-match series 3-2 after winning the second match by six wickets, the third by 27 runs and fourth by eight wickets. Pakistan won the first match.
Akmal and Haq got together with Pakistan struggling at 56-3 after 16 overs. They opened up gradually and lifted the quality of batting, which had earlier been mainly to blame for Pakistan’s defeat in the last three matches.
Akmal drove and cut beautifully as he took full advantage of a pitch which offered little help to the bowlers.
Akmal hit Michael Clarke for his 13th boundary to reach his fifth one-day hundred. In all, Akmal batted for 115 deliveries.
Haq hit his tenth boundary to bring up the win. He faced 81 deliveries.
The previous best fourth wicket-stand in Pakistan-Australia one-day matches was 173 made by Australia’s Dean Jones and Steve Waugh at Perth in 1987.
Before Akmal and Haq’s heroics Pakistan had lost Salman Butt (0), Younus Khan (27) and Ahmed Shahzad (19).
Pakistan captain Younus praised his batsmen as his side showed improvement from previous displays.
“I just asked them to rotate the strike, it was nice that our batsmen showed commitment this time,” Younus said. “It’s nice to end the series on a high note although we wanted to win the series.”
Earlier, Watson hit his second one-day hundred to steer Australia to a competitive total, contributing to stands of 58 for the first wicket with Brad Haddin (36) and 57 for the third with skipper Clarke (26) after Australia won the toss and batted.
Watson struck six boundaries and two sixes during his 146-ball knock.
He also added 84 for the unfinished fifth wicket stand with Calum Ferguson (41 not out) as Australia made 54 runs in the last ten overs.
Watson’s partnership with Haddin gave Australia a brisk start before Shoaib Akhtar separated them, claiming Haddin caught by Younus off a miscued drive.
Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal removed Marcus North (5), stumped by wicket-keeper Akmal.
Clarke steadied the innings with Watson before Gul had him caught behind the wicket.
It was left to Watson and Ferguson to give the impetus to the innings, taking 54 off the last 10 overs.
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