An unbeaten century from skipper Michael Clarke got Australia an 8-wicket victory as they secured the five One Day International series in the fourth game itself in Abu Dhabi on Friday evening.

Pakistan presented a paltry total of 197 in front of Australia to chase which the latter reached easily as Clarke scored a cool 100 off 122 and Shane Watson stood by his side with his 85 not out. Shoaib Akhtar looked threatening as he dismissed the Oz openers for cheap. Brad Haddin was sent back for a golden duck and debutante Marcus North was caught in front for 1. Watson had a spell of luck after a leg before appeal by Shoaib Akhtar was turned down by umpire Aleem Dar immediately after North’s dismissal.

There was no looking back then as desperate attempts by Younus to save the match failed. He even brought Shahid Afridi to bowl in the powerplay overs but to no avail. Shahid Afridi pulled a strained calf muscle when he came to bowl at the start of 36th over. He left the field with 3 overs of his quota remaining.

Clarke and Watson then built an incredible 197-run partnership for the fourth wicket and helped Australia finish at 200 for 2 in 44.2 overs. Clarke raised his fourth ODI century with a boundary off Shoaib while Watson concluded the game with a boundary off Saeed Ajmal.

Earlier in the game, Pakistan were bundled out yet another time for a little total of 197. After Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first, Doug Bollinger ran through the Pakistani batting line-up with his five for 35 in the second game of his career. His five-wicket haul included Salman Butt (2), Shoaib Malik (27), Shahid Afridi (40), Shoaib Akhtar(2) and Saeed Ajmal (0).

Afridi scored 40 off 40 and opener Ahmed Shehzad was the top-scorer with his 43. Shehzad built a 68-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Misbah-ul-Haq (34). After Misbah went to Clarke and Ahmed to Ferguson, the Pakistani innings slumped steadily.

Afridi’s rapid 40 notched Pakistan closer to the 200-mark but Bollinger got him in the batting powerplay. Yasir Arafat added 23 as the entire innings collapsed ay 197. The last and final match of the series will be played on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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