Pakistan level series after a tense finale by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Ground:	Headingley, Leeds
Scorecard:	Australia v Pakistan
Player:	RE Koertzen, BW Hilfenhaus, DE Bollinger
Event:	Pakistan in England 2010

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DateLine: 24th July 2010

 

Pakistan began the day with just 40 runs to level the series while Australia needed seven wickets to claim the short series. The important thing was who would hold their nerve and who would lose it. For the major part of the day it seemed that Pakistan had once again pressed the self-destruction button as wickets tumbled at regular intervals. Australia had every chance of winning the match till the very last moment but Pakistan hung on admirably.

 

Pakistan last won a Test match against Australia in 1995 and also had lost to the Australian side for 13 consecutive matches. This win finally broke the sequence of defeat. This match also happened to be Rudi Koertzen final international match as an official.

 

Overnight batsman Azhar Ali got to his maiden fifty with an exquisite cover drive but he was out off the next ball from Bollinger. That was the breakthrough that the Australians required. Umar Akmal never looked comfortable in the middle as he scratched around for his eight runs before an outswinger from Hilfenhaus proved too much for the youngster. Shoaib Malik who was included to give solidity to the middle order could not get the ball off the square for most part of the innings.

 

Bollinger and Hilfenhaus for the first time in the series looked to operate in tandem as the duo tied down the Pakistani batsmen in knots. Malik was dropped by Clarke in the slips but that did not prove costly as he was soon dismissed in the covers. With just 19 runs to win and having just 4 wickets in hand Kamran released the pressure with a couple of boundaries. The keeper batsman had a nervous moment when Hussey claimed a low catch at gully. But the umpires deemed that the ball had touched the turf before the fielder had claimed the catch. Aamer then levelled the score when he got a boundary to third man. Though Kamran got out in the dying moments Gul got the winning runs.