Taufeeq guides Pakistan to series win

Pakistan 271 for 3 (Taufeeq 113*, Faisal 56) beat Australia 267 for 9 (Hussey 82, Jaques 72, Tanvir 4-47) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Taufeeq Umar scored an unbeaten century and shared a 107-run opening partnership with Khalid Latif to guide Pakistan A to a seven-wicket victory over Australia A at Sheikhupura. The triumph secured the series for Pakistan with one match remaining.

Chasing Australia's 267 in a match shortened to 40 overs a side, the Pakistan openers dictated terms right from the start as both Latif and Taufeeq dealt mainly in boundaries. Latif (54 off 64 deliveries) hit seven fours and a six before becoming offspinner Dan Cullen's only victim of the match.

Yasir Hameed, who scored an unbeaten century in the previous match, could only manage a second-ball duck, falling leg-before to James Hopes. Faisal Iqbal, Pakistan's captain, however, joined Taufeeq in an 118-run partnership, dashing Australia's hopes of a comeback not only in the match but the series as well.

Faisal was dismissed by Jason Gillespie, playing his first game of the series, for an aggressive 56 off 48 deliveries. It was Faisal's second successive half-century and included three fours and an equal number of sixes. Taufeeq knocked off the remaining runs with Naved Latif and ended up with ten fours and four sixes in his unbeaten 113.

Earlier, Australia made an aggressive start but were restricted to 267 thanks to a four-wicket haul by the left-armer Sohail Tanvir. Luke Ronchi again failed at the top of the order but Phil Jaques and David Hussey (82 off 70 deliveries) flayed the Pakistan attack and a huge total looked imminent.

Jaques scored 72 from 62, however apart from Adam Voges and Cameron White, none of the later batsmen could capitalise on the solid platform. Australia lost their last five wickets for 25 runs and the total proved to be inadequate. Both teams now head back to Lahore for the final match before the two-match Test series.