The Australians pulled the match back into their favour, targeting the Pakistani middle order and reducing their scoreboard to 182/6 , Wahab Riaz (11) and Sohaib Maqsood (28) steering the batting.
Sohail and Misbah steadied the Pakistani ship, but Misbah fell in the 24th oper, removed by Maxwell for 34, bringing in Umar Akmal. Little did Pakistan realise that Maxwell’s move would trigger an avalanche, as Harish Sohail perished in the 27th over, dismissed by Johnson, Akmal was taken by Maxwell for 20. At the end of 30 overs, the score was 134/5. Afridi was the next man to depart, gotten rid of by Hazlewood for 23. The score at the end of 40 overs was 182/6.
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Earlier, the third quarter final of the ICC Cricket World Cup saw Australia lock horns with Pakistan, to determine who will edge past into the semi-finals. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Sarfaraz Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad walked out to begin the affairs for Pakistan. Starc and Hazlewood took charge of the bowling. The Pakistan side couldn’t have asked for a worse start, as the 5th over saw Sarfaraz take the long walk back for 10, thanks to some impressive bowling by Starc. The new man in was Haris Sohail.
There was no time for Pakistan to settle down, as the Australian scalped Shehzad for 5, dismissed by Hazlewood, bringing in skipper Misbah ul Haq, who survived a scare as soon as he walked in, but the bail refused to cooperate with the Australian side. At the end of 10 overs, the Pakistani side made 37/2 Â and the duo continued patiently, cautiously, to take the score to 83/2.