Player of the Match
Player of the Match

6.20pm: Well, at least both teams beat the rain, eh? This was shaping up to probably the finish of the tournament so far, until Starc and Australia nipped out the last three wickets in nine balls to ensure a comfortable-enough margin of victory... Anyway, thanks for chipping in, you can go over everything on the Live Report and then we'll have Danyal's considered wrap on the site soon. There's another pretty tasty match-up tomorrow, heavens permitting, so make sure to join us again for that. From myself, Miller and Alex (and Ranjith), it's cheerio for now!

6.10pm: Presentations time, Sarfaraz Ahmed first up: "Definitely, the batting was short and that's why we lost the match, Hasan batted well, Wahab batted well, we fought but could not win. We conceded too many runs first 20 overs, except for Amir the other bowlers did not bowl well, 270-80 was [par]. If we want to win, the fop four have to make runs. Imam made fifty, Babar made 30, but the top four must score runs. [Next game v India?] We will try our level best."

Australia captain Aaron Finch: "They certainly did [run it close], it's always tough when you've got guys like Hasan and Wahab coming out and swinging. When they get on a roll it can be tough to stop. We had to bowl our best ball, yorker or length, if your execution is off you go out of the ground. Disappointing we didn't bat out 50 overs, when you go in with an extra better. We probably tried to go too hard too early and ended up 20-30 runs short. But great we still got the two points despite not finishing off. It was a tough call, when you lose your allrounder you have to chose an extra better or bowler. We backed Maxwell to bowl ten overs, he got seven out and I managed to sneak a couple."

6pm: The points go with green and gold, Australia completing a 41-run win despite the best efforts of the Pakistan tail. Taunton was jumping to the Jailbreak Rock for a while, but in the end the curate's egg turned out to be mostly bad for Pakistan. Australia move up to six points with their third win, and that is a setback for Sarfaraz Ahmed's men in green, who showed flashes of what they were capable of but ultimately couldn't hold it together.

David Warner is named Man of the Match: "When I got out we had 70 balls to go, as the 'in' batter you want to bat 50 overs. We should have been around 340-50, credit to Pakistan, their second spells were fantastic and made it hard for us to hit down the ground. It was a used wicket and a touch dry, they bowled very straight lines, gave me no width, I just had to come out [and grind]... bit of movement early on, had to be tighter and climb into the back-of-a-length balls. For us it's about the way we finished, some great knocks for Pakistan, Wahab freeing his arms. Our bowlers bowled fantastic, they probably got closer than we expected but it was a great game."

45.4
W
Richardson to Shaheen Shah Afridi, OUT, run out backing up! Maxwell seals it for Straya! Leaps to take the ball one-handed at short extra cover, then fires a throw at one-and-a-bit stumps to leave Sarfaraz well short! No dramas, mate

Sarfaraz Ahmed run out 40 (96m 48b 1x4 0x6) SR: 83.33

45.3
0
Richardson to Shaheen Shah Afridi, no run, short of a length, climbs to hit the splice as Afridi angles his bat
45.2
0
Richardson to Shaheen Shah Afridi, no run, good length and he draws him out, nips this past the outside edge
45.1
0
Richardson to Shaheen Shah Afridi, no run, round the wicket, pitched full and tapped away

"Shaheen Afridi has an average of 20. That will do it!" Asfand's not giving up... To be fair, they only need a last-wicket thrash like Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain managed at Headingley last month

END OF OVER:
45 | 3 Runs 2 Wkts | PAK: 266/9 (42 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 5.91, RRR: 8.40)

  • Shaheen Shah Afridi1 (2b)
  • Sarfaraz Ahmed40 (48b)
  • Mitchell Starc9-1-43-2
  • Kane Richardson8-0-62-2
44.6
1
Starc to Shaheen Shah Afridi, 1 run, pitched up and squirted off the pads through backward square

Pakistan's win percentage down to 20% now ("So you're telling me there's a chance?")

44.5
0
Starc to Shaheen Shah Afridi, no run, pitched up, swinging late as Afridi pokes and gets an edge into his pads

Shaheen Afridi is last man in, 43 needed... No pressure, son

44.4
W
Starc to Mohammad Amir, OUT, 145kph/90mph full toss, Amir drags on! In no position to drive, all the weight going back and a thick inside edge judders the base of middle stump! Starc bringing the Mortal Kombat styles here, "Finish him!"

Mohammad Amir b Starc 0 (5m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

44.3
0
Starc to Mohammad Amir, no run, short of a length, 139kph/87mph and Amir pushes off the back foot and narrowly fails to nick off in near-identical fashion to Wahab

Pakistan 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st2Fakhar ZamanImam-ul-Haq
2nd54Babar AzamImam-ul-Haq
3rd80Mohammad HafeezImam-ul-Haq
4th10Mohammad HafeezSarfaraz Ahmed
5th1Shoaib MalikSarfaraz Ahmed
6th13Sarfaraz AhmedAsif Ali
7th40Sarfaraz AhmedHasan Ali
8th64Wahab RiazSarfaraz Ahmed
9th1Sarfaraz AhmedMohammad Amir
10th1Sarfaraz AhmedShaheen Shah Afridi