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Centurian: India is out Champions Trophy as Australia beat Pakistan by two wickets in a thriling encounter to assure the semi-final berth on Wednesday.
It looked completely one-sided at one stage with Ponting and Hussey going strong, but they collapsed from 140 for 2 to 187 for 8. When Johnson was gone, Pakistan were favourites to seal this but Lee and Hauritz saw off some nervy moments at the end to see their team through to the next stage, and to victory.
Splendid effort from Pakistan, too, who fought superbly to make a match out of this. Asif was superb in his second spell, and Naved lethal, bowling it in the blockhole with consistency; the ball to get rid of Hussey was a peach.
Pakistan were already through to the semis, but raised their game when it mattered and almost pulled it off. Join us in a bit for the presentation. Australia now take on old foes England in Centurion in the semi-final, and Pakistan take on New Zealand in Johannesburg.
Defending champions Australia pulled off a dramatic last-ball victory over Pakistan in a low-scoring thriller to romp into the semifinals of the Champions Trophy and bring a pre-mature end to India's listless campaign.
The Australians had to rely on their tail-enders to achieve the two-wicket victory in the very last ball in a nail-biting contest which saw fortune fluctuating from one team to the other till the very end.
In a must-win encounter, Australia first restricted Pakistan to a modest 205 for six and then just about managed to scamper home on a spongy SuperSport Park track to knock India out of the eight-nation tournament.
The Aussies were cruising along comfortably at 157 for three at one stage before five wickets fell in quick secession to completely change the complexion of the game.
Needing four runs to win from the last five balls, Brett Lee and Nathan Hauritz took the team home much to the relief of a tensed Australian dressing room.
The Aussies completed their Group-A engagement with five points and moved into the semifinals as the top team from their group. They had earlier defeated the West Indies while their match against India was washed out.
It was a disciplined bowling display by the Australians who exploited the conditions well to restrict the free-flowing Pakistani batsmen with only Kamran Akmal (44), Mohammad Yousuf (45) and Misbah-ul Haq (41) being the notable scorers.
The Aussies then rode on Michael Hussey's defiant 64 to scamper home, but not before some hiccups which provided a nail-biting end to the contest. Captain Ricky Ponting (32) and Tim Paine (29) also chipped in with useful scores.
Put into bat, Akmal, Yousuf and Misbah-ul Haq provided a semblance of resistance on a tricky Centurion pitch to leave the Aussies to score at 4.10 runs per over to secure a berth in the semi-finals.
Akmal's knock, during which he struck six boundaries, helped Pakistan recover from early jolts, while Yousuf tried to hold the innings together with a defiant 69-ball 45.
Pakistan started on an attacking note with Shahid Afridi, promoted to open the batting, cracking two boundaries off paceman Peter Siddle in the second over of the innings.
But Afridi (15), who struck three boundaries during his brief 18-ball stay, failed to make it big and became the first man to depart when his ambitious pull off Mitchell Johnson (2-45) found James Hopes in square leg region in the eighth over.
Other opener Akmal then paired up with skipper Younis Khan (18 off 49) to stitch up a 45-run partnership for the second wicket, before Shane Watson sent Akmal packing in the 19th over.
Brief score
Pakistan: 205 for 6 (Yousuf 45)
Australia: 206 for 8 (Hussey 64)
Result: Australia beat Pakistan by two wickets
Man of the match: Michael Hussey (Australia)
Points: Australia 2, Pakistan 0
