Tuesday, May 5, 2009

4th ODI : Bollinger & Clarke seal series for Australia.



Almost 28 year old, over 50 first class games ~ the very first time Doug Bollinger represented Australia, he looked confident. sadly, no wickets in first innings and only 2 in second in his debut test match against South Africa on home ground Sydney in January 2009, Bollinger lost selectors faith for a while.But, no matter how much you sweep a real talent under the carpet, it will come back again and again. 4 months later, Doug Bollinger, in his debut one day international, went wicketless once again but today, in his second game for his country in colored clothings, Bollinger bamboozled Pakistani batsman with his accurate left arm swing bowling on a hot & sandy afternoon in Abu Dhabi.Pakistani batters failed to form any partnership of authority and their run rate always stayed low. run a ball 40 from Shahid Afridi and late heroics from Yasir Arafat sent Pakistan close to double hundred mark but a target of 198 was never going to trouble the visitors.3 world cups in a row, Australians know how to seize initiative and also how to sustain it. They had a horrifying start with a golden duck for Brad Haddin and only 1 run for Marcus North on his debut (both falling to Shaoib Akhtar), Australians found an eager pair in Shane Watson and Michael Clarke. captaining his side for the 10th time, Michael Clarke seemed hungry to seal the series in this 4th one day international itself, and so he did with an unbeaten century off 122 balls. Shane Watson never looked comfortable, specially against Spinners but he played out 140 deliveries to remain unbeaten on 85 and saw his team home.Mini Scorecard : Aus v Pak : 4th ODI, Abu DhabiPakistan (elected to bat) = 197/10 in 48.4 oversA Shehzad 43, Misbah 34, S Afridi 40, Arafat 23*Doug Bollinger = 7.4-0-35-5, N Bracken = 10-1-31-2Australia (target = 198) = 200/2 in 44.2 oversMichael Clarke 100*, Shane Watson 85*, M North 1.Full Scorecard : Aus v Pak, 4th ODI : 1 May 20098th win from 10 games for Michael Clarke as captain of Australia in one day internationals. Clarke also scored his 4th ODI ton today, his second against Pakistan and in process, became the highest run scorer by an Australian captain against Pakistan in a bilateral ODI series!

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