David Warner hundred enough for Australia as Pakistan comeback falls short
Mohammad Amir five-for and heroics from the tail not enough as Australia hold on for 41-run win
Mohammad Amir five-for and heroics from the tail not enough as Australia hold on for 41-run win
Scorer: Ranjith P | Commentator: Alan Gardner
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."
Sarfaraz Ahmed run out 40 (96m 48b 1x4 0x6) SR: 83.33
"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
Pakistan's win percentage down to 20% now ("So you're telling me there's a chance?")
Shaheen Afridi is last man in, 43 needed... No pressure, son
Mohammad Amir opens up on his strategy against Australia that fetched him his maiden career ODI five-wicket haul
Batsman credits wife Candice for helping him 'get out of bed' on long road back from ball-tampering ban
Inconsistent bowling among the quicks - Mohammad Amir excepted - fielding errors and mistakes with the bat all cost Pakistan
James Emmerson deputises after official match scorer fails to show up for World Cup game
Why Pat Cummins was the biggest contributor to Australia's win, and how much Asif Ali's drop cost Pakistan