White, Clarke & Hussey Marshal Australia To Victory

Australia 275-5 (White 105, Clarke 58) beat
Pakistan 274 (Salman Butt 72, Watson 4-36) by five wickets
Scorecard
First One-Day International, Brisbane

Cameron White scored a century and Michael Clarke 58 to help Australia seal a five-wicket victory over Pakistan in the first One-Day International between the two sides in Brisbane.

Salman Butt scored a half-century and Shahid Afridi blasted 48 in 26 balls as Pakistan were bowled out for 274 but the 102-run partnership between White and Clarke put Australia on course for an impressive victory.

Butt's innings, coming from 80 balls, set Pakistan up for a good score after Mohammad Yousuf had won the toss and chosen to bat but despite 34 from Kamran Akmal and 46 from the returning Younus Khan, Pakistan had slumped to 227 for seven before Afridi smashed five fours and three sixes to revive the innings.

Shane Watson was Australia's main destroyer with the ball, taking four for 36 with the wickets of Akmal, Shoaib Malik (28), Afridi and Saeed Ajmal (2) while Clint McKay took three for 61, dismissing Younus, Umar Akmal (23) and Mohammad Aamer for a golden duck.

Yousuf was bowled by Doug Bollinger for two, the score 123 for three when he departed and from that point until Afridi unleashed his assault, Australia were on top.

In reply, Watson (5), Shaun Marsh (15) and Ricky Ponting (27) fell to leave the hosts at 84 for three before right-handers Clarke and White joined forces.

Together, they took the game away from Pakistan with White showing off his brutal hitting skills to reach his second ODI century, hitting eight fours and four sixes in 88 balls while Clarke made a fluent 58 in 76 balls, scoring well despite hitting only one boundary.

There was a glimmer of hope for Pakistan when Clarke was run out by Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who then had White bowled but any fightback was ended by an innings of 35 not out in 37 balls from Mike Hussey, who finished the game by crunching off-spinner Ajmal through the covers for a boundary with nine balls to spare.

The second game is in Sydney on Sunday 24th January.

© Cricket World 2010

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