Pakistan let World Champions Australia off the hook as they messed up their chase of a modest total and went down narrowly by 17 in the tri-nation cricket series final on Saturday.
Asked to chase 193 on a deteriorating wicket, Pakistan seemed well on course at 154 for 5 in the 42nd over before the critical stand between Yousuf Youhana (43) and Abdur Razzaq (26) was broken and Australia tightened the screws around them.
Pakistan kept bouncing back in the game and showed remarkable spirit even when they had two critical run outs off successive balls in the middle of their innings to brilliant work in the field by the Australians.
First, Shoaib Malik was done in by an underhand throw by Andrew Symonds at the non-strikers end and then off the very next ball, the fielder hurled a sharp return to wicket-keeper Brad Haddin to catch the newcomer Shahid Afridi (0) short of his ground.
Pakistan, seemingly cruising at 93 for 3 in the 30th over all of a sudden had five of their top order batsmen back in the pavilion.
{{/usCountry}}Pakistan, seemingly cruising at 93 for 3 in the 30th over all of a sudden had five of their top order batsmen back in the pavilion.
{{/usCountry}}But they took the setback in the stride when Youhana and Razzaq were involved in an exhilarating stand.