Pakistan 256 for 7 (Imran Nazir 66, Yousuf Youhana 61*, Wasim Akram 49*) beat Australia 165 (Watson 44, Shoaib Akhtar 5-25) by 91 runs
scorecard

Superb pace bowling from Shoaib Akhtar steered Pakistan to a 91-run win over Australia in the third one-day international at the Gabba in Brisbane. Although Pakistan suffered a heavy defeat in the opening match at the Colonial Stadium in Melbourne, they won the second game, and victory here wrapped up the series 2-1.

A late rally from Yousuf Youhana and Wasim Akram steered Pakistan to 256 for 7 from their 50 overs, and Australia were then shot out for 165 in just 40 overs. Waqar Younis, Pakistan's captain, called it "a total team effort".

Akram, after his heroics with the bat, trapped Matthew Hayden - returning to the Australian team after the birth of his first child - for just 5, to give Pakistan the perfect start, and the Australian batsmen never really recovered.

Shoaib claimed 4 for 16 from six overs in an accurate and fiery opening spell, to lift Pakistan into an impregnable position. Shahid Afridi then helped wrap up the tail, claiming Shane Warne for 31 and Andy Bichel for a duck to finish with 2 for 30 from his 10 overs.

Shoaib returned to dismiss Jason Gillespie for 0, and finished with 5 for 25 from eight overs. "I just tried to concentrate on taking wickets rather than just bowling fast," said Shoaib, who was named Man of the Match and Man of the Series.

Shane Watson top-scored for Australia with an unbeaten 44, but his team-mates' batting was poor.

Youhana and Wasim had earlier shared an unbeaten 88-run partnership, lifting Pakistan from 168 for 7 to a much more formidable total. Youhana's unbeaten 61 came from 134 balls, while Wasim scored 49 from just 32 deliveries, including a pair of towering sixes in the penultimate over. It was an appropriate way to celebrate his joining India's Mohammad Azharuddin as the most capped limited-overs player with 334 ODI appearances.

Opener Imran Nazir top-scored for Pakistan with 66 from 97 deliveries, but the innings then stalled and it was not until the eighth-wicket pair came together that Pakistan lifted the pace. Glenn McGrath's final over cost 23 runs.

Warne, with 2 for 42 from 10 overs, was the best of a largely indisciplined Australian bowling attack. Allrounder Watson conceded 46 runs from just five overs.

To add to Australian woes, Darren Lehmann was taken to hospital when he was struck on the left cheek trying to field a delivery off his own bowling. He was sporting a bloodshot left eye when he left the field, but he returned to the fray late in Pakistan's innings. But his day ended poorly, as he was dismissed for a duck when Australia batted.

Pakistan came to Australia with the firm belief that they could challenge the Australian supremacy in both forms of the game. Their displays over the past week have shown that such faith isn't misguided.

Teams
Australia 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Bevan, 5 Darren Lehmann, 6 Damien Martyn, 7 Shane Watson, 8 Shane Warne, 9 Andy Bichel, 10 Jason Gillespie, 11 Glenn McGrath.

Pakistan 1 Imran Nazir, 2 Saeed Anwar, 3 Yousuf Youhana, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq, 5 Younis Khan, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Rashid Latif (wk), 8 Azhar Mahmood, 9 Wasim Akram, 10 Waqar Younis (capt), 11 Shoaib Akhtar.

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