Australia victorious in Abu Dhabi

Australia bowl Pakistan out for 197 and hold an unassailable 3-1 lead going into Sunday's fifth and final match at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.

ABU DHABI // Doug Bollinger staked a claim for permanent inclusion in Australia's one-day line-up with a match-winning five-wicket haul against Pakistan at the Zayed Stadium tonight. The left-arm pace-man, who has played one Test match for Australia, is enjoying his first series in the gold strip of their limited-overs side. He was initially the beneficiary of a decision to rest some of their key players ahead of a hectic summer which includes the Twenty20 World Cup and the Ashes. In particular, the absence of Mitchaell Johnson granted him an opening, and he made the most of his opportunity with five for 35 as Pakistan crawled to 197 all out. Younus Khan, the Pakistan captain, continued his struggles with the willow. He could have fallen to the very first ball he received, from Nathan Bracken, which skewed off his inside edge just passed the leg-stump. It would have been his second golden duck of the series. Although he survived, it was only a brief stay of execution as he chopped the same bowler back onto his stumps shortly after, having accrued just seven. He now averages a meagre 11.50 from the first four matches of the series. Ahmed Shehzad, the 17-year-old newcomer, made a snooze-inducing 43 from 81 balls, which ended up as the top score of Pakistan's painstakingly-assembled tally of 197. Such a sum had proved to be a winning total the last time the side's met, when Australia were victorious on Monday evening. When Shoaib Akhtar then made immediate incisions in the world champions' line-up, it appeared a competitive score. Bayed on by a typically boisterous and partisan crowd, he fired out Brad Haddin off the second ball of the innings. Marcus North did at least manage to get his one-day international career off the mark with a single, but went straight afterwards when he was trapped in front by a charged-up Shoaib. Pakistan were on a roll, but they suffered a slow puncture in the shape of a regal alliance between Shane Watson and Michael Clarke, who put on an unbroken stand of 197 to guide Australia to victory. Australia's captain, Clarke, helped himself to a serene century, and now looks certain to be named man of the series, which concludes when the side's meet again in the capital on Sunday. [e-mail]