Akram gets record, MacGill takes the wickets

Akram gets record, MacGill takes the wickets
IAN CHAPPELL

SYDNEY, JANUARY 19: The day after Australians announced their cricket team of the century, the present side put in an inspirational performance to hammer Pakistan. However, for a while it seemed as though the dinner time parade of 150 Australian Test players on the ground had inspired the Pakistani batsmen as they made a fast start in chasing a huge target.

In the early overs Wasim beat the bat for no result, just as he has a number of times this season, but suddenly his luck changed and he picked up two wickets in successive balls. The second one took him to 399 One Day wickets and gave Ricky Ponting his third consecutive duck in the competition to match a similar sequence in the Test series. It's been a bizarre season for Ponting -- six ducks and four hundreds.

This brought together Michael Bevan and a struggling Mark Waugh. Despite his best efforts the elegant right-hander hasn't been able to repeat his century in the first Test against Pakistan, where he played a flawless knock. The difference betweenthat innings and his recent efforts was like a Monet compared with a house painter.

Michael Bevan on the other hand has made a conscious attempt to hit more boundaries early in his innings since he's been promoted to number four. He had some good fortune; an lbw appeal that could so easily have been given out and a missed stumping by Moin Khan, his second major blunder in two games. Nevertheless, Bevan capitalised on his luck and struck some good off drives as well as a few wristy flicks through the on-side and as always his speed between the wickets was that of a well trained greyhound.

After Shoaib Akhtar removed the Waugh twins, another athlete in Andrew Symonds came to the crease and he complemented his speed between wickets with muscle power. Symonds is an exciting cricketer with an aggressive attitude and the power to clear any boundary. Head coach of the Academy Rod Marsh, once asked Symonds what he was thinking when he faced a spinner? ``How I can hit every ball for six,'' was the candid reply. Heonly hit one six in his whirlwind knock of forty seven, but it was a memorable one; a glorious off-drive from spinner Saqlain Mushtaq.

Not surprisingly, with Australia taking to the bowling and hitting in excess of a hundred off the last ten overs, the bowling figures suffered. Wasim was the exception and with his best spell of the series he became the first man to take four hundred One Day wickets. This was a well-deserved honour for a magnificent cricketer.

Pakistan was left with a huge chase and as so often happens when a team is forced to bat aggressively, it helps out of form batsmen gain confidence. Ijaz Ahmed was the chief beneficiary and Glenn McGrath the bowler to suffer. Having produced Australia's most economical figures only a couple of games ago, McGrath was well on the way to also having the worst when his first five overs cost sixty one.

Abdur Razzaq hit five successive fours in one over, but Steve Waugh quickly summed up the situation and threw the ball to MacGill, who spun the ball along way. This had the effect of keeping the Pakistan batsmen pegged to the crease and they became easy prey to his big leg-breaks.

MacGill is an aggressive leg-spinner, tossing the ball into the air to take advantage of his sidespin and if batsmen aren't prepared to leave their crease, then they won't get too many short balls. That is exactly what happened and MacGill picked up four cheap victims, starting his One-Day career with a man of the match award.

This comprehensive win gave Australia a big break on their two opponents. Now both India and Pakistan are going to have to work hard to close the gap on Australia or else the series is in danger of becoming a one-sided contest.

Scoreboard

Australia
A Gilchrist c Moin b Akram 13
M Waugh b Shoaib 43
R Ponting lbw Akram 0
M Bevan c Shoaib b Mahmood 77
S Waugh b Shoaib 6
D Martyn c Ijaz b Akram 50
A Symonds c Mahmood b Razzaq 47
S Lee c Shoaib b Saqlain 26
D Fleming b Razzaq 0
S MacGill run out 1
G McGrath not out0
Extras: (b1, lb6, w12, nb4) 23
Total: (all out in 49.4 overs) 286
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-23, 3-113, 4-132, 5-177, 6-245, 7-265, 8-266, 9-286
Bowling: Akram 9-1-40-3, Younis 7-0-32-0, Razzaq 10-0-56-2, Shoaib 7-0-50-2, Mahmood 8-0-37-1, Saqlain 8.4-0-64-1

Pakistan
S Anwar run out 23
I Ahmed c S Waugh b Fleming 23
A Razzaq c McGrath b MacGill 40
I Haq lbw S Lee 12
Y Youhanna c Gilchrist b MacGill 10
M Khan c Symonds b McGrath 13
A Mahmood c S Lee b MacGill 1
W Akram c MacGill b S Lee 23
S Mushtaq lbw MacGill 2
W Younis lbw b Symonds 37
S Akhtar not out 3
Extras: (b1, lb4, w8, nb5) 18
Total: (all out in 45.2 overs) 205
Fall of wickets: , 2-62, 3-100, 4-116, 5-122, 6-124, 7-138, 8-143, 9-186
Bowling: ath 8-0-67-1, Fleming 10-0-48-1, Martyn 1-0-11-0, S Lee 9-0-25-2, MacGill 10-2-19-4, M Waugh 2-0-8-0, Bevan 3-0-17-0, Symonds 2.2-0-5-1

Man of the Match: Stuart MacGill
Result: Australiawon by 81 runs