Australia avoid whitewash against England

KARACHI: Individual brilliances coupled with a spirited team effort enabled Australia to win their first match in the five-match series against England as they avoided a potential whitewash after losing the first three games. Ricky Ponting (92) and Michael Clarke (99) added 155 runs for the third wicket as Australia made 290 before Ryan Harris grabbed five wickets to bowl out the hosts for 212.

And England captain Andrew Strauss did not hide his disappointment after his team failed to complete the whitewash. “It is annoying, there’s no doubt about that. We didn’t get enough things right.

“It wasn’t a secret hope,” said Strauss, who had talked about aiming for 5-0 after the series was secured with a tense one-wicket win at Old Trafford.

Ponting, whose innings set the tone for the win, said, “When you’re 3-0 down, it says a lot to be able to bounce back, pick yourself up and play a game like we did.”

For man of the match Harris, it was a special day after he claimed five for 32, including the big guns – Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and Craig Kieswetter – and taking his wicket-tally to 40 in just 16 games.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2010.