Steve Smith and Shane Watson helped Australia keep their semi finals hopes alive with a 21-run victory in Mohali.
The game between India and Australia is now a virtual quarterfinal. Chasing a target of 194 was an uphill task but Pakistan made a decent fist of their chase, but with the required rate climbing James Faulkner took five for 27 at the death as Pakistan finished on 172 for eight., Sharjeel Khan slaughtered the Aussie bowling and continued from where he left off from the game against the Kiwis. Just when Pakistan were on course, Faulkner removed the dangerous Sharjeel and that clamped down the scoring rate. Umar Akmal culled the rot briefly. Pakistan would've known they needed a Boom Boom special to bail them out but unfortunately, his innings was cut short by the leggie Zampa. Khalid and Malik did some willow wielding but the pressure of chasing a run-rate of 15 plus got the better of them. The Aussie bowlers bowled tight lines and were right on the money. James Faulkner picked up a 5-fer, he was equally supported by Zampa and Hazlewood.
Smith won the toss and chose to make first use of a good pitch, although Usman Khawaja played and missed at Mohammad Amir's first three balls of the contest.Khawaja pulled Wahab Riaz for six, but was bowled two balls later and David Warner followed in identical fashion in the left-arm quick's next over.
The recalled Finch also had his stumps disturbed playing back to spinner Imad Wasim on 15 as Australia found themselves 57 for three.Skipper Smith thrashed 61 from 43 balls, sharing an unbroken stand of 74 with Watson, who added 44 from just 21 deliveries, as Australia posted 193 for four.
James Faulkner was adjudged man of the match for his 4-27-5.In most match ceremony he said "I got lucky in the end. More importantly, we won and got back on track. I'm just happy we won again and played some decent cricket as a group as we have done back home. We didn't start well, but there's lot of strength and depth in the squad and there was no reason we couldn't bounce back. India are a strong team in these conditions, and we'll start afresh in a couple of days time" .
While the captain said "We haven't quite played to our potential yet in the first two games. You want to play your best cricket in the back end of the tournament. Today was a clinical performance and I'm proud of the boys. Davey [Warner] has hit the ball well and he needed to bat higher up. Usman has been batting beautifully and Finch came in and looked good as well. We need to win the remaining three games if we want to win the World Cup. India are a world class team especially in these conditions. Zampa is a very smart bowler, reads the batsman well, and all his skills are coming together. The game against India is in two days time. Probably, we'll see some footage and stuff. But tomorrow, we'll just rest. T20 cricket takes a lot out of you and then be ready to go in 2 days time."
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