Australia once again teased Pakistan, losing early wickets and then producing a solid middle-order partnership to thwart the tourists' push for victory. In a series where the ball has generally dominated bat, Steve Waugh looked in total control from the outset after a short, sharp burst from Shoaib Akhtar had threatened to split the Australian batting wide open.Waugh's Australian side has shown on a number of occasions they have the perseverance and determination required to see them through a long hard campaign and this was further proof.Pakistan made a better start in this match with Saeed Anwar, an excellent strokemaker playing a wide range of shots, executed with exquisite, wristy timing. He displayed his best form of the series in hitting a number of flowing cover and square-drives to the boundary and looking more assured than he had at the Gabba.In the end he fell victim to the brilliant fielding of this athletic Australian side. Eager to post his first half-century of the tournament he hit twofirm shots that were brilliantly saved, before lofting a ball deep into the outfield, but he failed to take into account Michael Bevan's pace.The fleet-footed Bevan covered the ground like a whippet and then timed his leap perfectly to pull down an Australian Rules football style mark at the home of the winter game. The look of astonishment on Anwar's face told the story; he obviously thought the shot would bring up his fifty, but instead he was on a slow walk back to the pavilion.Whilst the wicket went to the analysis of Andrew Symonds, much credit must go to the fielder, although in general both all-rounders have given the skipper good service with the ball. Symonds is a converted off-spinner, although if called on I'm sure he could still deliver decent tweakers and typical of a man with a lot of skill he has learnt his new art quickly.Symonds sought out team-mate Adam Dale for tips on medium-pace bowling and judging by the success of the English born all-rounder, he (Dale) has a future as a coachwhen his playing days are over. At the other end, Shane Lee, who has picked up a bit of pace this summer (perhaps spurred on his brother's success), swung the ball out and collected three scalps. He also benefited from some excellent fielding, with Symonds taking a good catch at backward point, but he has worked hard on his bowling, something he had to improve to hold his place in the One-Day side.However, just when Australia had manoeuvred into a winning position a couple of difficult catches were dropped and Abdur Razzaq produced some spirited hitting. Having bowled well earlier in the series, Razzaq showed admirable ability with the bat and currently his good form is keeping him ahead of the accomplished Azhar Mahmood.The Australians started at a sprint with Adam Gilchrist hitting a glorious six down the ground off a respectable delivery and Wasim Akram suddenly felt the need for speed. The move worked immediately as Shoaib sent a scorching delivery cannoning into Gilchrist's pads and then hedisposed off the in-form Ricky Ponting in his opening over. Shoaib again got a good reception from the Australian fans and it's easy to see they don't look upon the speedster as a chucker.Soon after the double breakthrough Mark Waugh, who'd looked in his best form for some time, driving confidently through the off-side, was run out in a mix-up with Michael Bevan. This brought his twin brother to the crease and the Pakistanis found him in his most obdurate mood.Steve Waugh may never excite like Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara, but he is as dependable as a Swiss watch and he rarely lets Australia down when runs are needed. He combined first with Bevan and then Damien Martyn to blunt the Pakistan attack, until he allowed himself the luxury of lashing out and belting a six off Saqlain Mushtaq.This match followed the pattern of the Test series where Pakistan could match it with Australia to a point, but eventually a big partnership always turned the game. Unless Pakistan can cajole more runs from the toporder this is also going to be the pattern in the One-Day series.SCOREBOARD :PAKISTANS Anwar c Bevan b Symonds 49W Wasti c Gilchrist b McGrath 8I Ahmed lbw b Fleming 0I Haq c Symonds b S Lee 8Y Youhanna c M Waugh b S Lee 20M Khan c Martyn b Symonds 5W Akram c Gilchrist b S Lee 0A Razzaq (not out) 51S Mushtaq c S Waugh b B Lee 11W Younis c Gilchrist b McGrath 8Extras (lb-7, w-7, nb-2) 16Total (for nine wickets in 41 overs) 176Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-22, 3-42, 4-87, 5-92, 6-92, 7-106, 8-144, 9-176Bowling: McGrath 9-1-48-2, Fleming 8-0-33-1, B Lee 8-0-37-1, S Lee 8-1-24-3, Symonds 8-0-27-2AUSTRALIAA Gilchrist lbw b Shoaib 21M Waugh (run out) 12R Ponting c Wasti b Shoaib 21M Bevan (run out) 15S Waugh (not out) 81D Martyn (not out) 39Extras: (lb-3, w-6) 9Total (for 4 wickets in 38.5 overs) 177Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-32, 3-38, 4-92 Bowling:Akram 7-0-29-0, Younis 6.5-0-48-0, Shoaib 8-2-32-2, Razzaq 8-0-35-0, Saqlain 9-0-30-0 Result: Australia won by six wickets.
