Haris Sohail's ton in vain as Australia complete clean sweep
Glenn Maxwell was the standout player of the match, following up a barnstorming 70 off 33 balls with 1 for 45 in his ten overs
Glenn Maxwell was the standout player of the match, following up a barnstorming 70 off 33 balls with 1 for 45 in his ten overs
Commentator: Liam Brickhill
10.40pm Australia complete a 5-0 sweep with a 20-run win - their 8th in a row. Their total was set up by their top order, with Finch, Marsh and Maxwell all passing fifty and Khawaja narrowly missing out on his hundred. Pakistan lost Abid Ali in the very first over, and though Shan Masood reached fifty and Haris Sohail made a career-best 130 at better than a run a ball, they just didn't have enough in the tank to get past Australia's 327 for 7. Imad Wasim also reached fifty, but by the time he was at entered the game was already slipping away, and Australia's bowlers kept things tight to wrap things up.
Sohaib Ahmed: "Although Pakistan lost this series badly but it has been an eye opener for the players and coaches and will give enough to ponder on before the England series and the World Cup."
Kashif Qamar: "Maxwell is the only difference between both teams. Pak needs good allround power hitter badly."
Arif Chaudhry: "Pak needs a real finisher like Abdul Razzaq"
Jeevan: "read alot of comments saying Maxi was the difference in both the sides, are you guys forgetting about the australian opening pair. Finch scoring 451 and Khawaja with 272."
"It's very satisfying," says Australia coach Justin Langer. "We came here in September and Pakistan showed us how to play cricket. We worked really hard in the summer to turn it around, and 5-0 is a great result. Playing spin bowling has been a problem for a long time, but we've worked very hard and put some great plans into place. Everyone in world cricket is working towards the world cup, and it's always nice to go into the tournament with confidence. We've got some now."
Yet again, Glenn Maxwell is the Player of the Match: "It was nice to get involved. Our batting group did a great job. The team performance has been outstanding. To have this consistency leading into the world cup is great."
"The way Haris played is fantastic," says Imad Wasim. "Two hundreds in four games. He's worked really hard on his fitness, and it's paid off. Shan also played really well. No matter what players are playing, 5-0 is a bad loss. But we have to chin up as we have a series coming up against England and the World Cup. We'll sit down and see what we have to do, and then do it. We'll work on fielding and fitness. We also need to take initiative and play attacking cricket. After 17 years of struggle, Abid Ali showed his class in the last game. Same as Rizwan. If they keep playing like this, they can be superstars. No matter who is playing, they have to show their 'A' game. It's a big loss for us, but we'll come back hard in the next series."
Aaron Finch is the Player of the Series: "The way everyone contributed throughout the series was fantastic," says Finch. "The difference in 15, 20 runs tonight was the fielding. Our boys had a tremendous night in the field. everyone has played a really good role, so the selectors have a hard job to select that World Cup squad. My own process didn't change a lot, I've just changed a couple of things technically over the last couple of weeks. They didn't quite work at first, but when you try new things they take some time. It was tough. India had the better of me. Khawaja, his last couple of months in white ball cricket have been great, and he lead from the front in india. I was disappointed he didn't get a hundred here, he played a great knock. There's always room for improvement. One real positive it the way our spinners have bowled. The next couple of weeks will be important for guys to refocus and recharge their batteries. We'll go to the World Cup with a lot of confidence now, even after a lot of people wrote us off."
And that's all from your commentary team tonight. Please do check Danyal Rasool's match report before you leave. Thank you all for tuning in throughout this series. We hope you've enjoyed our coverage.
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