Opener Azhar Ali hit an unbeaten 82 and spinner Mohammad Nawaz took three wickets as Pakistan thrashed a modest Cricket Australia XI by 210 runs in Cairns Saturday. The tourists declared their second innings at 216 for six and then polished off the CA XI for 109 off 27.3 overs to win early on the final day of their three-day day-night game ahead of next week's first Test against Australia in Brisbane. Pakistan set the CA XI a target of 311 runs but the inexperienced home side never got within range with left-arm spinner Nawaz snaring three for 31 and pacemen Mohammad Amir and Rahat Ali each capturing two wickets. Ali added 38 to his overnight score and struck three of his seven fours and two sixes on the final day before the Pakistan declaration to set up the result. Nawaz was unbeaten alongside Ali on 36 off 47 balls, with Sarfraz Ahmed the only man to be dismissed on Saturday, bowled for 39. "We were very satisfied with what we got," Ali said. "Everyone got time in the middle — that was the most important thing. "Getting runs is a different thing but spending time and getting used to (the pink ball) is very important." Pakistan is coming off a two-Test series defeat in New Zealand and has lost its last nine Tests in Australia going back to 1999. "As a team we really want to improve," Ali said. "Fielding is really important, catching in Test matches if you catch well generally you end up getting a result." Scores: Pakistan 208 (Y. Khan 54, S. Ahmed 39; C. Valente 4-36, M.Steketee 3-47) and 216-5 declared (A. Ali 82 not out, M. Nawaz 36 not out; R. Lees 2-28) beat CA XI 114 (J Winter 39; M. Amir 3-15, R. Ali 3-26, W. Riaz 3-28) and 109 (A. Nair 42; M. Nawaz 3-31) by 210 runs. Australia regains confidence Lacking context, suspense and crowd enthusiasm, the Chappell-Hadlee series between Australia and New Zealand may not have generated the returns projected by its commerce-minded organizers. The home side, however, enjoyed a windfall of confidence from the 3-0 series win which captain Steven Smith hopes will be banked for the Tests against Pakistan starting this week in Brisbane. Scarcely 20,000 fans turned up to the Melbourne Cricket Ground Friday to watch the finale against New Zealand, a year after more than 90,000 packed the stadium for the World Cup final between the same teams. With New Zealand's batsmen skittled for 147 in 36.1 overs, Australia won by 117 runs, bringing an unloved tournament jammed between two test series to a premature conclusion. Former players and pundits have long bemoaned the proliferation of one-day tournaments that jam up the international calendar and tend to offer little more than bragging rights to the winning team and revenues to the hosting cricket board. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is weighing proposals to inject relevance to the format, including making bilateral series serve as qualifiers for the quadrennial World Cup. "There's been a few proposals that have come up and you want as much relevance for every series as possible," Smith told reporters after the Melbourne win. Smith will hope for the same spur against Pakistan, who they play in the first day-night test at the Gabba from Thursday. "Obviously it's going to be different in Brisbane against the pink ball and against a quality opposition like Pakistan, so we'll have to be at our best if we want to score some runs at there," he said. "It's been a great series for us and great for our confidence as well. "Winning is a lot better than losing and it becomes a bit of a habit as well. Hopefully we can keep up this habit for the rest of the summer." — Agencies
