match unbeaten run in the Cricket World Cup dating back to 1999 was finally broken by Pakistan Saturday when Ricky Ponting's team was beaten by four wickets. Way back in 1999 in England, it was against the same opponents that Australia had lost its last match in a World Cup before they embarked on their glorious journey of winning the next three titles consecutively. Australia, which was unbeaten in five matches in Group A in this tournament, was skittled out for 176 in 46.4 overs. Pace bowler Brett Lee was on fire at the R. Premadasa Stadium and raised hopes of an Australian fightback when he got rid of opener Mohammad Hafeez in the third over but his haul of 4-28 could not prevent Pakistan from cruising to victory with 54 balls to spare. Abdul Razzaq (20 not out) finished off match in style by slamming spinner Jason Krezja for two consecutive fours to end on 20 not out. Pakistan finished on 178-6. “We certainly had a tough game today. We didn't do ourselves any favours. I thought our batting effort was particularly ordinary,” said Ponting, who suffered his first World Cup defeat as captain. “We stuck at it really well with the ball. I thought the guys bowled really well and gave ourselves a bit of a sniff when we got them six down but not enough runs on the board.” Saturday's result threw the tournament wide open as there is no undefeated team left in the competition heading into next week's knockout stage. Australia had already qualified for the quarterfinals but will now finish third in the group rather than top, a place now occupied by Pakistan. Asked to reveal how his team managed to finally stop the Australian juggernaut, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said: “We made some good plans against these guys and I think the boys all stuck to these plans. We didn't try to take some wickets early on, we tried to bowl maiden, good overs ... and all the bowlers did a great job. The credit goes to the bowlers.” Umar Akmal, who finished unbeaten on 44, added: “It's a different sort of enjoyment playing against Australia. They may be world champions but there was no pressure on us so we pulled it off today.” Ponting's men struggled for momentum throughout their innings after opting to bat first. Pakistan's pace and spin attack, backed up by sharp fielding, never allowed the Australian batting to settle down.
