Riaz’s best not enough to stop all-round Australia

Australia didn’t fret. It bowled enough short deliveries to keep Pakistan on the back foot, though, to their credit, both Haris and Misbah were generally up to the task. Clarke set attacking fields, sometimes even three slips, and asked Pakistan to do the running, having enough confidence in his bowling group that they would dry up cheap runs.

Misbah seemed to have identified Maxwell as the weakest link in the Australian bowling chain. Twice in the offspinner’s first two overs, he slog-swept him for towering sixes, but Haris suddenly went off the boil, his composure deserting him despite repeated advice and censure from his captain as he sacrificed the sensible for the fancy.

Having briefly taken Maxwell off, Clarke brought him back from the same end in an inspired move that set the cat among the pigeons. With his second comeback delivery, Maxwell elicited a rare top edge to a slog-sweep from Misbah, Finch making good ground to his right from deep mid-wicket to safely get under the ball. There was disbelief at the Oval; had Misbah actually mistimed a slog-sweep?

That disbelief was to give way to stunned silence when Johnson, summoned immediately for a second spell, outthought and hoodwinked Haris a few minutes later. Operating from round the stumps, he got the fullish ball to angle away from the left-hand batsman. Haris was sucked into a drive despite his feet staying rooted to the crease. Brad Haddin completed the formalities as another batsman fell victim to lack of footwork.

Umar Akmal and Afridi flourished all too briefly before both perished in the deep where Finch had a field day. Both played horrible strokes, given the situation. Akmal tonked a Maxwell long hop straight to deep mid-wicket while Afridi kept teeing off at everything until it was one tee too many.

As he kept pressing for wickets, Clarke bowled Johnson out by the 33rd over. He still had fabulous Power Play bowlers and finishers up his sleeve in Starc, Hazlewood and Faulkner, Pakistan only had Sohaib Maqsood and the tail. Riaz was engaged in an entertaining duel with Starc, who kept reminding the batsman to hit the ‘little white thing’. Riaz eventually did – two meaty blows over mid-on. But Australia had far too much quality for the tail to wag furiously, if at all.

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