9.05pm And that is that. Australia go 1-0 up in the series, and showed they have what it takes to win even when their powerful top order fails to click. How will Pakistan respond? Join us day after tomorrow at the MCG to find out. Until then, goodbye!
Presentation time. Matthew Wade is, as expected, the Player of the Match. "Feels great," he says. "It was challenging at the top, it was swinging and seaming around. Maxi took the pressure off me, and I was just looking to get him on strike. I was absolutely cooked (by the last over). They were taking the pace off, I was swinging way too hard. If the spinners bowled into the wicket it was hard to hit them down the ground."
Azhar Ali: "It's a bit sore, but hopefully it will recover soon. The physio will have a better look and see how far I can get. Hopefully I can take part in the next game. I think full credit to the bowlers, first half it was very good, but obviously credit goes to Matthew Wade the way he batted. We thought from five down for 78 we can get them out early, but unfortunately it didn't happen. It was still chaseable but we needed to have good partnerships up front."
Steven Smith: "It was a pretty average start. We were in a bit of a hurry, to be fair. I thought Matthew Wade played an exceptional innings. 270 was around par, it was a bit of a slow wicket. We bat all the way down. Starcy is batting at No. 10 at the moment. We've got a long order. If we come off we're going to make some big scores. We need to be a bit smarter at the top. We bowled good areas all night, took the pace off well, got the job done."
Stuart: "Faulkner didn't do his magic with the bat but has done very well with the ball."
Crickfan: "If Malik and Sarfraz were there, they would be rebuilding the innings instead of giving their wicket away" -- Unfortunate for Pakistan that neither was available today.
Hamza: "Its high time for azhar ali to go....It was a pathetic selection...getting hafeez in place of malik when you already have to off spinners..." -- Shoaib Malik was ill. That's why Pakistan couldn't pick him today. I'm guessing Nawaz wouldn't have played had Malik been fit.
8.50pm Pakistan started fairly okay, and were hamstrung (literally) by Azhar Ali retiring hurt just after he had lost his opening partner. They still seemed reasonably on course when Babar Azam and Umar Akmal were at the crease, but they simply stagnated after that partnership came to an end. Australia's various pace options bowled skillfully, used the slower balls excellently against the lower order, but by then the match was done. Australia, remember, were 5 for 78 at one stage. Thanks to Matthew Wade, and Glenn Maxwell before him, they set a target of 269.
Wahab Riaz c Starc b Cummins 6 (12m 8b 0x4 0x6) SR: 75.00
END OF OVER:42 | 7 Runs 1 Wkt | PAK: 174/9 (95 runs required from 48 balls, RR: 4.14, RRR: 11.87)
- Wahab Riaz5 (5b)
- Hasan Ali0 (0b)
- James Faulkner7-1-32-4
- Pat Cummins8-0-31-2
Hasan Ali is in at No. 11.
Mohammad Amir c Maxwell b Faulkner 8 (14m 10b 0x4 0x6) SR: 80.00
Around the wicket to Wahab.
END OF OVER:41 | 4 Runs | PAK: 167/8 (102 runs required from 54 balls, RR: 4.07, RRR: 11.33)
- Wahab Riaz1 (2b)
- Mohammad Amir5 (7b)
- Pat Cummins8-0-31-2
- James Faulkner6-1-25-3