Pakistan set Australia 214 runs to win

Australian paceman Josh Hazlewood took four wickets as Pakistan staggered to 213 all out in Friday’s World Cup quarter-final.

Hazlewood, who replaced Pat Cummins in Australia’s sole change for the knockout bout, helped dismiss the Pakistanis in 49.5 overs at Adelaide Oval.

The tall quick claimed 4-35 from 10 overs while fellow fast bowler Mitchell Starc (2-40) and spinner Glenn Maxwell (2-43) also achieved multiple success.

Haris Sohail top-scored with 41 from 57 balls but Pakistan, after winning the toss and batting, never gained traction after losing two early wickets in three balls.

Australia, seeking a victory to secure a semi-final against India next Thursday at the SCG, had openers Sarfraz Ahmed (10) and Ahmad Shehzad (5) caught at slip to leave Pakistan wobbling at 2-24 inside six overs.

And the visitor’s plight could have been worse two balls later when captain Misbah-ul-Haq survived a bizarre incident.

A Hazlewood delivery deflected off Misbah’s pad and brushed leg stump, with one bail lighting up but not falling from its groove.

Misbah, who will retire from one-day cricket at the end of the tournament, and Sohail then steadied with a 73-run partnership before Pakistan lost 4-61 in a middle-order slump – and all wounds were self-inflicted.

Misbah (34 from 59 balls) was irate after being caught at deep midwicket by Aaron Finch when slog-sweeping Maxwell’s gentle off-spin.

Sohail then launched an ugly driving attempt to a wide Mitchell Johnson (1-42) delivery and nicked to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin.

Just three overs later, Umar Akmal (20 from 25 deliveries) pulled an innocuous Maxwell short ball straight to Finch on the midwicket fence – the Pakistani smacked his bat into his pad in anger before trudging off.

Veteran Shahid Afridi, who like Misbah will quit after the World Cup, then produced a typically aggressive cameo of 23 from 15 balls before he too imploded.

Like Misbah and Akmal, Afridi slogged to Finch on the leg-side boundary where the Australian completed an overhead catch to give Hazlewood another wicket.

Pakistan, after being relatively sound at 2-97, had slipped to 6-158 in a costly 10-over span and they never recovered, despite Sohaib Maqsood trying to steady their cause with 29 from 44 balls.

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