2nd ODI: Aus v. Pak: Symonds leads Australian Victory to equal series1-1!

Andrew Symonds back in the squad for this Australian tour to UAE to play against Pakistan, picked two wickets and scored useful 58 in which he built 90 run parternship with skipper Clarke.

Pakistan batting first after winning the toss, played average cricket under the Friday crowd. Salman Butt scored 57 and Shahid Afridi scored 41. Hauritz picked 3 wickets for Australia.

Chasing 208, Hadding got out for 8 but Hopes and Watson added 76 for the 2nd wicket. Skipper Clarke played his role with an unbeaten 39.

Match # 2
Date: Friday April 24, 2009
Teams: Australia v. Pakistan
Captains: Michael Clarke and Younis Khan
Toss: Pakistan, elected to bat
Venue: Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium
Result: Australia won by 6 wickets with 29 balls remaining
Series Result: 5 match series level at 1-1
Man of the Match: A Symonds off Australia

Pakistan Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
S Butt	c Symonds b Hauritz	57	112	6	0
A Shehzad	Run Out (Laughlin/Haddin)	4	7	1	0
Younis Khan	c Haddin b Laughlin	28	34	5	0
S Malik	c Haddin b Hauritz	7	12	1	0
Misbah	c Hussey b Hauritz	12	22	1	0
S Afridi	c Haddin b Hopes	41	40	5	1
Kamran Akmal	c Hussey b Hopes	19	22	2	0
Umar Gul	c Hauritz b Symonds	10	13	1	0
S Akhtar	c M Clarke b Symonds	25	14	4	1
Iftikhar Anjum	Not Out	1	1	0	0
Saeed Ajmal	Run Out (M Clarke/Bracken)	0	2	0	0
Extras	(lb 2, nb 1)	3	-	-	-
Total	all out in 46.2 overs	207	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-5 (Ahmed Shehzad, 2.5 ov), 2-58 (Younis Khan, 16.1 ov), 3-71 (Shoaib Malik, 19.5 ov), 4-103 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 27.3 ov), 5-122 (Salman Butt, 33.3 ov), 6-161 (Kamran Akmal, 40.1 ov), 7-176 (Shahid Afridi, 42.3 ov), 8-206 (Umar Gul, 45.4 ov), 9-206 (Shoaib Akhtar, 45.5 ov), 10-207 (Saeed Ajmal, 46.2 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Bracken	8.2	1	24	0
Bollingers	10	1	26	0
Hopes	7	0	45	2
Hauritz	10	1	41	3
Laughlin	9	0	57	1
Symonds	2	0	12	2

Australia Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Haddin	c Ryder b Kallis	8	13	1	0
Hopes	Run Out	48	64	3	1
Watson	c Pankaj b Kumble	30	52	2	0
M Clarke	Not Out	39	72	3	0
A Symonds	Not Out	58	62	4	1
Ferguson	Not Out	10	11	1	0
Extras	(lb 4, w 8, nb 3)	15	-	-	-
Total	for 4 wkts in 45.1 overs	208	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-16 (Haddin, 3.5 ov), 2-93 (Watson, 20.6 ov), 3-93 (Hopes, 21.2 ov), 4-183 (Symonds, 39.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
S Akhtar	7	1	32	0
Umar Gul	10	0	51	1
I Anjum	9	0	32	0
S Afridi	10	0	38	2
S Ajmal	7	0	37	1
S Malik	2.1	0	14	0

Aus v. Pak: Ponting, Hussey Rested! Symonds and Lee Called!

The Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and middle order batsman Micheal Hussey have been rested for the forthcoming series against Pakistain. The series has one T20 game and 5 ODI matches to be played in a neutral venue. Michale Clarke will lead the team while Ponting getting ready for the Ashes.

Symonds was called back to the team and should be a reliever for him as he is coming back after getting involved in several controversies. He was sent back home mid-tour to Bangladesh. He went for fishing instead of attending the team session.

Australia's premier fast bowler Brett Lee, who was out of action for several months due to injury, got his place back. He will also be participating in the IPL starting on April 18.

This could be the last chance for Symonds as he was dropped frequently citing displinary issues. He was also recommended for counseling by Cricket Austrlia. He also did not perform in the domestic cricket.

"He's obviously not performed domestically well as we or he would have liked, so we really had to make a decision on giving him an opportunity to see how he is doing prior to the Twenty20 (world championships in June). We thought it was the right way to go but, as I've told Andrew, it will be up to him from now on. He will have to perform. We think after everything he's done for Australian cricket, one of our all-time best one-day players, that he deserves this opportunity," Hilditch was quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald.

So, this could be the last chance for Austrlia's controversial all-rounder. He has to either Perform or Perish!