{{Umar Akmal has smashed 94 off 54 balls as Pakistan bounced back after a morale-sapping loss against India to defeat Australia by 16 runs in the World Twenty20 in Dhaka on Sunday.}}<\/p>\n
Elder brother Kamran Akmal contributed a run-a-ball 31 and Shahid Afridi returned unbeaten on 20 off 11 balls to lift Pakistan to 191-5 after they were sent in to bat.<\/p>\n
Australia were bowled out for 175 in reply off the final ball of the match despite a spectacular third-wicket partnership of 118 from 64 balls between Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch.<\/p>\n
Maxwell hit 74 off 33 balls with six sixes and seven boundaries, while Finch chipped in with 65 that included two sixes and seven fours.<\/p>\n
The pair came together after 35-year-old left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar, who opened the bowling, dismissed David Warner and Shane Watson in the first over to make it 8-2.<\/p>\n
Maxwell and Finch launched a brilliant counter-attack to raise Australia’s 100 by the eighth over, with Maxwell contributing 58 off 20 balls.<\/p>\n
Seamer Bilawal Bhatti conceded 30 runs in the eighth over, giving away two sixes and three fours, besides bowling a waist-high full toss that fetched five extra runs.<\/p>\n
A relieved Pakistan finally saw Maxwell off in the 12th over when he attempted to sweep Shahid Afridi and holed out to Ahmed Shehzad on the square-leg fence.<\/p>\n
Afridi also bowled skipper George Bailey for four as Australia lost their last seven wickets for 29 runs.<\/p>\n
It was Australia’s first group two match in the Super-10 stage, while Pakistan had lost to India by seven wickets on Friday.<\/p>\n
India, the West Indies and hosts Bangladesh are the other teams in the group, from which the top two will advance to the semi-finals.<\/p>\n
Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez said the plan to attack from the start paid off.<\/p>\n
“I think were were a bit defensive against India, but today the boys went out and expressed themselves,” said Hafeez. “Umar Akmal showed his real talent today.<\/p>\n
“We wanted him to attack and that’s what he did. It is really nice to have a win under our belts. It will give us the confidence for the matches to come.”<\/p>\n
Australian skipper George Bailey said poor catching let his team down.<\/p>\n
“Batting and bowling can go either way, but fielding was in our hands,” he said. “We’ve set high standards and we didn’t do well today.<\/p>\n
“Pakistan bowled really well and did not allow us to build the momentum that Maxwell and Finch created.”<\/p>\n
The Akmal brothers put on 96 for the third wicket after Pakistan were reduced to 25-2 by the fifth over, losing the key wickets of Ahmed Shehzad and Hafeez.<\/p>\n
Umar Akmal hit four sixes and nine boundaries before he fell in the final over, caught on the fence attempting another big hit off Mitchell Starc.<\/p>\n
Australia’s 43-year-old spinner Brad Hogg, the oldest player ever in the World Twenty20 competitions, had a forgettable outing.<\/p>\n
Hogg dropped Umar Akmal on the mid-wicket fence when the batsman was on 22 and then conceded 29 runs in three wicketless overs after being called on to bowl in the ninth over.<\/p>\n
Kamran Akmal, who was also dropped early in the innings, was finally dismissed in the 13th over when Warner held a running catch on the point fence off the bowling of Nathan Coulter-Nile.<\/p>\n
Brief scores:<\/p>\n
Pakistan 191-5 in 20 overs (Umar Akmal 94, Kamran Akmal 31, Nathan Coulter-Nile 2-36)<\/p>\n
Australia 175 all out in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 74, Aaron Finch 65, Shahid Afridi 2-30, Umar Gul 2-29)<\/p>\n
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