Saeed Ajmal (2R) celebrates the dismissal of Australian skipper George Bailey along with teammates
Saeed Ajmal claimed three wickets as Pakistan crushed Australia by 32 runs in their final ICC World T20 Super Eight clash to keep themselves in hunt of a semi-final berth.
Saeed Ajmal finished with 3-17 and Mohammad Hafeez (2-22) and Raza Hasan (2-14) as Australia crumbled in purist of a 150-run target and desponded for 117-7.
Despite of the big defeat Australia sealed a semi-final berth while the second semi-finalists will be decided after the clash between South Africa and India later on Tuesday.
Fighting a lone battle Michael Hussey played an enterprising knock of 54 off 47 but the rest of others failed to reach the 20-mark.
Getting off to off a horrible start in chase and lost openers Shane Watson (8) and David Warner (8), who shared 133-run opening stand against India in their second Super Eight clash, with just 19 runs on board.
Hussey tried to rebuild the innings in the company of skipper George Bailey (15) but Saeed Ajmal snared letter cheaply to peg Australia back.
Saeed Ajmal later claimed the wickets of Matthew Wade (13) and Pat Cummins (0).
Earlier, asked to bat, Pakistan rode on the blistering half-century of Nasir Jamshed (55 off 46) to post a competitive total of 149-6.
Jamshed combined with Kamran Akmal (32 off 26) to recover Pakistan from 2-29 after openers Mohammad Hafeez (4) and Imran Nazir (14) departed cheaply.
The pair built the momentum gradually and ragged Australian bowlers with their flamboyant shots all over the park. The 79-run third-wicket stand between the pair ended with the dismissal of Jamshed, who hit six boundaries and two sixes in his knock.
Kamran’s resistance came to an end in the next over. Abdul Razzaq plundered 22 off 17 balls to give the late thrust to the scoreboard.
Left-arm seamer Michael Starc was the most successful bowler for Australia with the figures of 3-20 in his four-over quota.
