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Spinners have been making headlines in the IPL in South Africa and today the story wasn’t any different in the northern hemisphere. Pakistan’s trio of spinners, led by the experienced Shahid Afridi, restricted Australia to 198 for 7 in the third ODI and gave themselves a firm chance of taking a 2-1 series lead. Unlike their cycle-stand collapse in the first ODI Dubai, Australia lost wickets at regular intervals and were held together by their captain Michael Clarke.

Afridi didn’t run through the line-up this time but was just as penetrative. Together with Shoaib Malik and then Saeed Ajmal – playing after being reported for his action in the previous game – he put a stranglehold on the runs and forced the batsmen to adjust their shots by varying his length. While he attacked the batsmen and looked to pick up wickets, the others teased with flight and cramped the batsmen for room and in general kept it simple.

They succeeded in pulling things back after the openers, James Hopes and Brad Haddin, started briskly. Hopes began the day by pushing the first ball- a half volley – down the ground for four before hitting Sohail Tanvir for consecutive boundaries.

Pakistan were indifferent in the field early on but their captain Younis Khan broke that spell – and Australia’s momentum – when he effected a direct hit from mid-off with only one stump to aim at and Hopes out of his ground. Shane Watson prodded forward half-heartedly at an Umar Gul delivery that kept low and dragged the ball onto his stumps and Pakistan had lost two wickets for no runs in the space of four balls.

That brought in Clarke, who with Haddin put on 46, most of those runs coming against the seamers. Clarke’s timing was the standout feature – perhaps his best shot was the forward defensive push off Yasir Arafat that sped past the bowler to the boundary. His effort was impressive given that the ball was gripping and turning and Afridi was varying his pace and slipping in the odd googly. He was the spinners’ bunny in South Africa and in the first ODI but today the fluency returned.

The pair looked to push Australia towards 250, what was predicted to be a safe score on this pitch, before the spinners struck against the run of play. An extravagant shuffle across the stumps off Malik cost Haddin his wicket and Andrew Symonds couldn’t repeat his efforts from the second game, trapped in front by an Afridi delivery that skidded through. His reaction, though, suggested that he may have hit it.

With the spinners bowling in tandem, Clarke was subdued to an extent and Australia managed to score only 29 in one ten-over mid-innings passage. Clarke wasn’t afraid to use his feet but Afridi cleverly dropped the ball short and forced him to defend. He hit the odd wide delivery to the boundary and initially found it hard to push the singles with the fielders attacking the infield.

Callum Ferguson managed to rotate the strike with Clarke in a 54-run stand, though it included a 10-over spell without a boundary. Clarke broke the spell with a cover-driven boundary off Ajmal and, in the 38th over, Australia took the batting Powerplay. Clarke pulled Afridi to square leg but the bowler had his revenge when he fired one short, quick and forced the batsman to check his shot. He ended up chipping it tamely to Afridi and he was gone for a valuable 66.

That effectively ended Australia’s push for runs, and some effective death bowling by Umar Gul helped Pakistan’s cause. Ferguson holed out to long-on and David Hussey mis-hit one to deep square leg. That Australia had to wait till the 49th over for the first six summed up their innings. They ended with a below par score but they will know, against Pakistan’s unpredictable middle order, anything is possible.
Source:Cricket News

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