da fezbet： Shaun Tait proved he can still be a force at international level as he helpedAustralia to a tense two-run win
The Bulletin by Brydon Coverdale at the MCG05-Feb-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUmar Gul took three wickets but it turned into Australia’s night•Getty Images
Shaun Tait proved he can still be a force at international level as he helpedAustralia to a tense two-run win that completed a clean-sweep across allthree formats against Pakistan this summer. Tait bowled the fastest ballever recorded in Australia and grabbed 3 for 13 including the key wicketof Kamran Akmal, who had threatened to end Australia’s streak withhis highest Twenty20 score.Pakistan’s trip has been notable for terrible fielding and the inabilityto capitalise whenever they got on top of Australia. This time their fieldingwas sharper than it had been at any stage over the past couple of monthsbut their failure to keep Australia down remained a major issue. Despitedismissing Australia for 127 and being on track at 4 for 98 in the 15th over,they found a way to lose.The problems began when Kamran chipped to mid-on for 64 from 33 balls tohand Tait his third wicket. Steven Smith then delivered two important breakthroughson debut when he had Fawad Alam caught at slip and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan stumped,and the wickets kept tumbling. In the end, Pakistan needed 10 from the finalShane Watson over. Umar Akmal was on strike, having been the key after theloss of his brother, but when he holed out from the first ball the resultwas all but sealed.It was a shame that Kamran’s team-mates couldn’t reward him after he ledan impressive fightback when the visitors had stumbled to 2 for 10. Kamranwas a one-man resistance movement and raced to a 25-ball half-century, thequickest ever by a Pakistan batsman in a Twenty20 international.His fifty came up with a typically muscular pull for six off Dirk Nannesand at the time Pakistan were 4 for 81 and no other batsman in their line-uphad reached double figures. It was an incredible turnaround for a man whowas dropped from both the Test and ODI sides during the tour and had a bestinternational score of 34 in any format on the trip.In a match where Tait broke the 160kph barrier and his new-ball partner Nanneswas fast and accurate, the first-change Mitchell Johnson was a welcome reliefand Kamran helped blast 20 off Johnson’s first over. Despite the supportof his brother Umar (21), there wasn’t enough of a spread in the runsfrom the rest of the Pakistanis.The trouble began with the quick loss of both the openers. Nannes’ firstover was a maiden that included the run-out of Imran Nazir as the pressurebuilt, and Tait didn’t drop below 150kph in his opening spell. He hit 160.7kph,which was the fastest ball recorded in Australia, and from a 152kph offeringhad Imran Farhat caught at slip for 8.That undid much of the good work from Pakistan in the field after they dismissedAustralia with eight balls to spare, with David Hussey holding things together during an unbeaten 40. Only twice in a 20-over match had Australiascored less than their 127 and it was thanks to great bowling from Umar Guland a sharp fielding effort from his team-mates. Three run-outs hurt Australiabadly, including two that resulted in flat, accurate throws from the outfieldfrom Umar Akmal.But the most impressive was Fawad’s effort to get rid of Cameron Whitefor 4. A Gul short ball lobbed off White’s body to point where Fawad tookthe catch, but while the umpire was turning down the appeal, White wanderedout of his crease and was brilliantly snared by a smart throw.It was the second good thing that Fawad did in the field after he held asharp chance at point to send Michael Clarke on his way for 32 from 26 balls.Clarke’s innings was useful but didn’t exactly disprove the doubters whobelieve he is unsuited to Twenty20 cricket.He began in promising enough fashion with a cracking cut for four from hisfirst delivery but there was only one more boundary and most of his runscame from scrambled ones and twos. Neither of Australia’s debutants had inningsto remember – Travis Birt was out second ball when he missed a paddle sweepand was bowled, and Smith was bowled by Rana’s slower delivery for8.The Twenty20 specialist David Warner made a handy 24 but his dismissal sparkeda mini-collapse of 5 for 27. The last of those wickets was Brad Haddin, stumpeddown the leg side. It was one of several good things Kamran did for the match.He simply didn’t have enough support with the bat.