Ruthless Australia Thrash Pakistan To Go 2-0 Up

Australia 267-6 (Watson 69, White 55) beat
Pakistan 127 (Mohammad Yousuf 58, McKay 3-15) by 140 runs
Scorecard
Second One-Day International, Sydney

Australia pulled off a crushing 140-run win over Pakistan to go 2-0 up in their five-match One-Day International series with a ruthless performance in Sydney.

Pakistan were set 268 to win after Shane Watson and Cameron White scored half-centuries for the home side but they were bowled out for 127, Clint McKay taking three for 15.

Pakistan won the toss and invited Australia to bat first and openers Watson (69) and Shaun Marsh (41) put on 100 for the first wicket to lay the platform for a solid batting effort.

Although Ricky Ponting (13) and Michael Clarke (25) fell relatively cheaply, Cameron White continued his fine run of form with 55 in 58 balls before becoming Mohammad Aamer's second victim and the innings was given a late boost by innings of 29 from Mike Hussey and an unbeaten 27 in 14 balls from Brad Haddin.

Aamer, having already had Ponting caught by Mohammad Yousuf, struck again to have White caught by the same fielder to finish with three for 53 while leg-spinner Shahid Afridi finished with two for 35 by dismissing the openers, Watson caught by Shoaib Malik and Marsh caught by Umar Gul. Gul was the man responsible for ending Clarke's innings, Afridi taking the catch.

In contrast to Australia's innings, only three Pakistanis could reach double figures as their run chase collapsed as within 17 overs they were left reeling at 42 for five.

Doug Bollinger had Salman Butt (2) and Younus Khan (0) caught by White, Mckay ran out Kamran Akmal for 16, had Shoaib Malik caught by Ponting and Peter Siddle bowled Umar Akmal for a duck to effectively put Pakistan out of the game.

Yousuf resisted, scoring a defiant 58 in 94 balls but he was left with far too much to do, and only Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who thumped 27 in 22 balls with a four and two sixes, offered him any sort of support.

Watson dismissed Afridi for nine and Nathan Hauritz picked up a couple of wickets before McKay ended the game by having Saeed Ajmal caught by Haddin.

Australia won the opening game in the five-match series by five wickets in Brisbane and the third game is in Adelaide on 26th January.

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