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The thrilling climax followed an equally dramatic run-chase by Australia as they replied to Pakistan’s 151 for four.
Australia required 31 from three overs, 21 from two and 10 in the last over, bowled by Razzaq.
The all-rounder dismissed Bailey with the first delivery, brilliantly caught by substitute fielder Yasir Arafat at deep midwicket, and conceded only three runs from his next three.
With seven required from two deliveries Cummins on-drove a six to tie the scores and put his side in charge.
But off the final ball Cummins got a leading edge to a full-toss and Imran Nazir held on to a steepling catch at mid-off to send the capacity crowd of 25,000, the first sell-out in the history of the Dubai International Stadium, into raptures. It was a double blow for Australia as they will begin this month’s World T20 ranked 10th in the shortest form. Australia dropped behind Ireland in the ICC rankings. Australia, losing finalists at the last Twenty20 World Cup in 2010, have been grouped with Ireland and West Indies in the opening stage of the fourth version of the tournament.
Bailey questions system
Bailey questioned the rankings system in which minnows Ireland are a place above them. “That does not look good but I am still not sure how the rankings work,” said Bailey of the Twenty20 rankings introduced last year and currently topped by South Africa. “So Ireland goes past us when we haven’t played Ireland in a T20. If Ireland is a better side than us then I guess it will show in a couple of weeks in Sri Lanka,” said Bailey.
Pakistan opted to bat after winning the toss and their total was built around a solid second-wicket partnership of 76 in 11 overs between Hafeez (45) and Nasir Jamshed (45) before Kamran Akmal smashed an unbeaten 43 from just 26 balls. Australia started positively as Warner made 31 from 19 balls. With Watson scoring 33 and Mike Hussey 27, they were 79 for one at the halfway stage.
Brief scores: Pakistan 151/4 in 20 ovs (Md Hafeez 45, N Jamshed 45,K Akmal 43*; Starc 1/17, Watson 1/29, Christian 1/22) vs Australia 151/8 in 20 ovs (D Warner 31, S Watson 33, G Bailey 42; Ajmal 2/20, Razzaq 2/9)
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