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Aussies take 1-0 lead in VB Series finals
Lee and McGrath claimed three victims each as Australia trounced Pak by 18 runs in Melbourne.
Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath took three wickets apiece on Friday as Australia edged to an 18-run win over Pakistan in the first match of a best-of-three finals of the VB Series.
Lee and McGrath took two wickets each in their opening spells as Australia, defending 237, had Pakistan reeling at 9/3 and then 27/4.
Lee returned 3-23 and McGrath had 3-34 as Pakistan reached 219 for nine in reply from their quota of 50 overs.
Pakistan had an outside chance of an upset during a 91-run fifth-wicket stand between skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq (51) and Shoaib Malik (66), but hopes faded when Lee returned in his second spell to dismiss Inzamam.
Earlier, Andrew Symonds led the Australian batsmen, scoring 91 off 101 balls and sharing a 137-run fourth-wicket partnership with Damien Martyn (53) after the hosts had struggled to 53 for three.
Skipper Ricky Ponting said Australia's recognised batsmen had failed again "but our new-ball bowling was outstanding — that's where the game was won."
Symonds "played beautifully, with confidence, and changed the momentum for us," added Ponting. "I still don't think we're anywhere near our best, but we came up with a good win."
The Australians lost their last seven wickets for 47 after Martyn's dismissal, including 5-24 to be all out in the 49th over at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Pakistan also lost their wickets in bundles.
Inzamam said Pakistan was let down by some erratic batting.
"The first part is going very good, 237 is a very good total for a chase," he said. But slumping to 27/4 "is the main problem."
"We played some bad shots."
Lee trapped Salman Butt (0) lbw and bowled Yousuf Youhana (2) in his opening spell, while McGrath chimed in with the wickets of Kamran Akmal (4) and Mohammad Hafeez (13) as Pakistan crashed to 27/4.
Inzamam and Malik restored Pakistan's innings before Lee struck again.
Inzamam had batted patiently, hitting a boundary and a six off 83 balls before he miscued Lee and was caught at long leg by McGrath as Pakistan slipped to 118/5 in the 33rd over.
Abdul Razzaq (3) was run out, making the total 123/6 in Lee's next over. He was backing up on Malik's attempted single when Symonds fielded from close range and knocked down the stumps with a diving, underarm throw.
