Australia v Pakistan, Champions Trophy, Group A, Centurion

Pakistan managed just 31 runs in the batting Powerplay, taken between the 46th and the 50th over of their innings. Their innings had progressed slowly until then, and Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal were unable to force the pace at the death. The Australian seamers did an excellent job to restrict Pakistan to 205, which, in the end, proved just about assailable.

Australia had started well in their chase, both lost openers Shane Watson and Tim Paine in fairly quick succession. Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting then put Australia in a dominant position with an 81-run stand, that took them to 140 for 2 and laid the platform for a successful chase.

That foundation was almost wasted by the batsmen who followed, as the middle order collapsed to reach a precarious 187 for 8. Pakistan were then favourites to seal victory, but Brett Lee and Nathan Hauritz saw off a tense phase to take their team home by two wickets off the final ball of the match. There was a mixture of caution and aggression from the two, as they managed to hit timely boundaries, and levelled the scores to record a semi-final berth. They stole a bye off the last ball to win the game and help Australia top the group.