01 October,2009 07:25 AM IST | | AFP
Australia qualified for the Champions Trophy semi-finals with a thrilling two-wicket win over Pakistan at SuperSport Park yesterday thanks to a last-ball bye.
The defending champions, having won the toss and restricted Pakistan to 205-6 off 50 overs, appeared to be coasting home with 140 runs on the board, seven wickets in hand and 112 balls to face.
But as the Pakistani bowlers led by Saeed Ajmal came alive, wickets tumbled and Australia entered the final over needing four runs to win a match transformed into a thriller after being tedious to watch for so long.
Tail-enders Brett Lee and Nathan Hauritz picked off singles against superb bowling from Umar Gul and tight fielding to reach 206-8 in the best match so far of the tournament.
Man-of-the-match Michael Hussey top scored with 64 and Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson took two wickets each for the Australians, who face England Friday in the semi-finals with Pakistan meeting New Zealand one day later.
"I was chewing my fingers off at the end," joked Australia skipper Ricky Ponting. "Now we have to discover what went wrong in the second half of our innings and fix it."
Pakistan captain Younus Khan admitted he never expected such a tight finish: "We suddenly came good and took wickets. Some of our bowling was fantastic on a track that was a little soft but good."
