Australia complete whitewash of Pakistan with innings win

There were no heroics from Pakistan as Australia, world's undisputed kings of Test and one-day Test version of the game, wrapped up the third Test with an emphatic innings and 20-run victory with well over a day to spare at Sharjah Cricket Stadium here Tuesday.

Australia's second successive clean sweep over Pakistan in three years was a mere formality on the fourth morning. Pakistan's last two wickets prolonged the agony by almost an hour.

Any hope of even saving the innings defeat evaporated in the dusty atmosphere of the desert when Hasan Raza, who stood defiant in both innings, became Andy Bichel's victim for 68. Soon afterwards Mohammad Sami, who hung around for 76 minutes, also fell to Bichel as Pakistan were shot out for 203 in 67.2 overs.

As in the second Test here Pakistan never threatened to challenge Australia who dictated the terms from the movement Steve Waugh won the toss and elected to bat first.

The Test also removed any lingering doubts about Waugh's leadership qualities as he silenced his critics with his 28th Test hundred and he got it when the team needed it.

Waugh also masterminded the 3-0 whitewash when Pakistan toured Australia in 1999-2000 under Wasim Akram's leadership.

Australians played like a professional side with everyone chipping in but four men stood tall with their exploits. Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting made the bulk of runs while demon bowlers Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, who were not required to bowl Tuesday, exposed Pakistan's batting limitations with incisive breakthroughs when needed by the team.

Warne especially was awesome and his haul of 27 wickets speaks volume of this greatest spin bowler of all time. And no one deserved the Man-of-the-Series award than the 33-year-old leg-spin wizard, who also ran away with the Man-of-the-Match purse.

In a nutshell it was Pakistan's worst-ever performance in recent times and the scars left by the mauling from the all-conquering Australians will require plenty of guts and all-round improvement to recover for the exacting forthcoming series against lowly Zimbabwe and South Africa before competing in the 2003 World Cup.

For the disappointing Pakistan side the only plus point which emerged from the debris of the disastrous last two Test has been the batting of Hasan Raza. The 20-year-old stood tall in both innings of the final Test. He has the technique and determination to occupy the crease which all his colleagues lacked although the strip held no terrors.

Australians on the other hand came back firing on all cylinders after the narrow shave at Colombo in the first Test and did a hatchet job on Pakistan by going back to the drawing board and improved in every aspect of the game as the series progressed.

Unfortunately, Pakistan went into reverse gear and instead of getting better got worse and the continued blunders by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) especially in team selection aggravated the situation further and made Pakistan cricket a laughing stock. And the explanations put forward for this gutless display on fielding a youthful side is a lame excuse and holds no water.

This simply means that the PCB has not done its home work and in three years of the present management it failed to unearth a player to replace ageing worn out veterans like Wasim Akram and Saeed Anwar despite spending millions of rupees on hiring more than dozen foreign coaches for every department of the game which one could imagine on huge remunerations.