Pakistan snaps Australia’s 34-match unbeaten run

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Australia’s 34-match unbeaten  run in the Cricket World Cup dating back to 1999 was finally  broken by Pakistan today when Ricky Ponting’s team were  beaten by four wickets.
Australia, who have won the last three World Cups during the  run and were unbeaten in five matches in Group A in this  tournament, were skittled out for 176.
Pace bowler Brett Lee was on fire at the R Premadasa Stadium  and raised hopes of an Australian fightback when he got rid of  opener Mohammad Hafeez in the third over but his haul of four  for 28 could not prevent Pakistan from cruising to victory with  54 balls to spare.
Abdul Razzaq (20 not out) finished off match in style by  slamming spinner Jason Krezja for two consecutive fours to end  on 20 not out. Pakistan finished on 178-6.

Umar Gul
Umar Gul

“We certainly had a tough game today. We didn’t do ourselves  any favours. I thought our batting effort was particularly  ordinary,” said Ponting, who suffered his first World Cup defeat  as captain.   “We stuck at it really well with the ball. I thought the  guys bowled really well and gave ourselves a bit of a sniff when  we got them six down but not enough runs on the board.”
Today’s result threw the tournament wide open as there is  no undefeated team left in the competition heading into next  week’s knockout stage.
Australia had already qualified for the quarter-finals but  will now finish third in the group rather than top, a place now  occupied by Pakistan.
Asked to reveal how his team finally stopped the Australian  juggernaut, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said: “We made some  good plans against these guys and I think the boys all stuck to  these plans.
“We didn’t try to take some wickets early on, we tried to  bowl maiden, good overs … and all the bowlers did a great job.  The credit goes to the bowlers.”
Umar Akmal, who finished unbeaten on 44, added: “It’s a  different sort of enjoyment playing against Australia. They may  be world champions but there was no pressure on us so we pulled  it off today.”
Ponting’s men struggled for momentum throughout their  innings after opting to bat first.
Pakistan’s pace and spin attack, backed up by sharp  fielding, never allowed the Australian batting to settle down.
A 63-run second wicket stand between Brad Haddin (42) and  Ponting (19), who failed once again with the bat, was the only  notable partnership in the Australian innings.
Michael Clarke (34) and Steve Smith (25) were the only other  batsmen to make any worthwhile contributions on a difficult  surface that offered spin and some uneven bounce which the  Australian batsmen failed to cope with.
Paceman Umar Gul (3-30) bowled superbly with both the new  and the old ball for the 1992 champions, who were the last team  to defeat Australia in a World Cup match in 1999.
Gul made the first breakthrough by bowling Shane Watson for  nine and returned to clean up the tail by taking the wickets of  Jason Krezja and Lee.