Paine century drives Australia A to series win

Australia A 5 for 316 (Paine 134, Ferguson 48) beat Pakistan A 301 (Latif 100, Ghani 53, Bollinger 3-53) by 15 runs
Scorecard

Australia A edged ahead of Pakistan A in a high-scorer at the Allan Border Field to take the one-day series 2-1. Opener Tim Paine cracked 134 to steer his team to an imposing 316 before his counterpart Khalid Latif responded with an exact 100, which wasn't enough as Pakistan fell short by 15 runs.

Pakistan's decision to send the home team in to bat backfired as the first two partnerships cost 66 and 108 runs respectively. Callum Ferguson supported Paine in the second-wicket stand with 48. Paine's century came off 124 balls and he smashed 13 fours and five huge sixes before being dismissed by Fahad Masood.

The Australian innings got a real boost between the 34th and 40th overs when Paine and Adam Voges added 69. Moises Henriques and Jason Krejza then pushed the score past 300 with cameos towards the end.

Pakistan got off to a quick start but lost two wickets before the fifth over. Two half-century partnerships, driven by Latif, put Pakistan on track but the chase lost momentum when Latif fell in the 33rd over to the left-arm spinner Jon Holland. Latif scored at more than a run-a-ball and his knock included ten fours and two sixes. Sheharyar Ghani made 53 before departing in the 40th over, but the steady fall of wickets hurt Pakistan's efforts in keeping with the asking rate.

Paine said he had expected a high-scoring encounter. "I enjoyed batting today and it was good to put on some solid partnerships, firstly with David Warner and then with Ferg (Callum Ferguson) after that," Paine said after the match. "I thought 316 was a good score but we knew they would come at us hard, and we're just happy to come away with the win."

He also praised Latif's knock. "His (Khalid Latif) innings was first-class and really helped them through that middle part of the game and they got some momentum up so it was great when Dutchy (Jon Holland) was able to pick him up."

Pakistan round off their tour with a Twenty20 game at the same venue on Saturday. Australia took the two-match unofficial Test series 1-0.