All-round Shows Clarke Helps Australia Lead Series By 2-1

Abu Dhabi: The 28-year-old skipper Michael Clarke hit a fighting 66 to anchor an otherwise struggling Australian innings which helped them reach 198-7 in their allotted 50 overs before claiming 3-15 to bowl Pakistan out for 171 in 47.1 overs.

Clarke's brilliant bowling -- which saw Pakistan lose their ten wickets in the space of 76 runs -- steered his team to a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Pakistan on the other hand squandered an opening partnership of 95 runs and lost 5 wickets for 33 runs and they never really recovered from that, though Malik held one end till the end, but it was never easy to score freely on this track. Australia now lead the series 2-1 with 2 more matches to go.

Pakistan won the first match by four wickets, while Australia clinched the second by six wickets -- both played in Dubai last week.

The remaining two matches will be played here on May 1 and 3. The only Twenty20 match is scheduled for Dubai on May 7.

Brief Score: Australia 198/7 (Clarke 66, Ferguson 41, Gul 3-38, Afridi 2-31) beat Pakistan 171 (Butt 48, Shehzad 40, Clarke 3-15, Hauritz 2-25 ).

Scores	Upcoming	Results
South Africa vs Pakistan - 3rd ODI 4th Test - Australia v India - December 26-30, 23:30 GMT 1st Test - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 26-30, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Harare Afghanistan won by 8 wickets (with 139 balls remaining) 3rd T20I - West Indies v Bangladesh at St Vincent Bangladesh won by 80 runs

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