Kamran Akmal ensured that Pakistan were on course to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series at the Dubai Sports Stadium. Australia managed three wickets before the halfway stage but the bowlers failed to inflict the kind of collapse which Shahid Afridi orchestrated earlier to make the chase of 169 a contest.
Australia tasted early success in the seven-over period before the dinner break when the dangerous Salman Butt departed for just 5 off Ben Hilfenhaus. Butt was taken by surprise at how quickly the ball came on to him and trapped him plumb in front of the stumps. His opening partner Akmal flayed two boundaries through the off side - one off a free hit - to relieve the pressure after Butt's dismissal.
The seamers kept it simple and focused on making use of the bounce to keep the batsmen in check. Younis Khan tried to push the scoring but his fidgety movements at the crease meant that something was about to happen, be it a tame dismissal or an innovative boundary. He steered James Hopes just wide of slip's grasp for a boundary but his luck ran out when he miscued a pull off the same bowler to Nathan Bracken at midwicket.
Spin was introduced in the 13th over but Nathan Hauritz couldn't extract the same turn and bite that Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal managed against his batsmen. He overpitched too often and that allowed Akmal to get forward and drive through the line. He used his feet well and chipped down the track to bisect the gaps in the infield.
Shoaib Malik contributed only 12 in a stand of 48 with Akmal, content to let his partner hog the strike. However, as Akmal motored along to a fifty, a flashy drive outside off cost him his wicket and Clark had his revenge after being slashed for a four past slip two balls earlier. It was a timely breakthrough and another quick wicket, one feels, will make things interesting.
38.5 overs Australia 168 (Hopes 48*, Haddin 40, Watson 40, Afridi 6-38) v Pakistan
