DUBAI - Pakistan's spinners Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal and Raza Hasan bowled Australia out for just 89 runs to set up an easy seven-wicket win in the first Twenty20 international here on Wednesday.
Ajmal (2-13), Hasan (2-15) and skipper Hafeez (2-24) shook the Australian batting before left-arm paceman Sohail Tanvir (3-13) wrapped up the innings in 19.3 overs while Umar Gul took the all important wicket of Shane Watson in his 1-17 four overs spell. Pakistan then romped home in 14.5 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. It was an easy win for Pakistan at Dubai Stadium after going down 2-1 in the preceding one-day series.
Shoaib Malik hit the winning boundary, finishing with nine not out while Kamran Akmal finished with an unbeaten 31 with three boundaries and a six. The victory was never in doubt once Pakistan bowled well. Hafeez (17) and Imran Nazir (22) gave Pakistan a solid start of 30 before losing Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed (10) in quick succession. Hafeez was declared man of the match for his all-round performance in a low scoring affair. Hafeez praised the team wffort and debutan spinner Raza. "Great team effort. Bowlers stuck to their plans, Raza Hasan showed a lot of character for a debutant," he said. Akmal and Malik saw off the target without any discomfort. The second match will be played here on Friday. Earlier Australia were let down by poor shot selection against quality spin bowling after they were sent into bat. Australia hit only three boundaries in the innings with their last coming in the fourth over as Pakistani spinners never allowed them to settle on a turning track, reducing their opponents to their second-lowest Tweny20 total.
Opener David Warner top-scored with 22 off 25 deliveries, hitting two boundaries. Cameron White (15) and captain George Bailey (14) were the only others to reach double figures. Paceman Gul dismissed Watson (eight) in the third over while Tanvir accounted for Michael Hussey (one) in the next before Warner and Bailey put on the best stand of the innings, adding 33 for the third wicket. Pakistan's spinners then came into their own, as the last eight wickets went for a mere 43 runs. It was the second worst total for Australia in Twent20. Australia's lowest Twenty20 total of 79 came against England at Southampton in 2005. Australian captain Bailey said they were completely outplayed. “We were completely outplayed. The pitch was a little bit slow, but the top order need to bat for longer and score more runs, that is the name of the game in T20.”

     scoreboard

Australia:
S Watson lbw b Gul    8
D Warner c and b Hafeez    22
M Hussey c Malik b Tanvir    1
G Bailey c Umar b Hafeez    14
D Hussey c Ajmal b Hasan    3
C White b Ajmal    15
M Wade c Nazir b Hasan    6
G Maxwell c Jamshed b Ajmal    4
P Cummins c Umar b Tanvir    1
X Doherty not out    6
B Hilfenhaus c Kamran b Tanvir    0
Extras: (lb6, w3)    9
Total: (all out in 19.3 overs)     89
Fow: 1-12, 2-13, 3-46, 4-51, 5-52, 6-72, 7-81, 8-81, 9-88, 10-89.
Bowling: Hafeez 4-0-24-2, Tanvir 2.3-0-13-3 (w1), Gul 4-0-17-1, Ajmal 4-0-13-2 (w1), Hasan 4-0-15-2 (w1), Malik 1-0-1-0
PAKISTAN:
M Hafeez c DJ Hussey b Cummins    17
Imran Nazir c White b Watson    22
Nasir Jamshed b Hilfenhaus    10
Kamran Akmal not out    31
Shoaib Malik not out    9
EXTRAS: (w 1)    1
TOTAL: (3 wickets; 14.5 overs)    90
FOW: 1-30, 2-44, 3-68
BOWLING: GJ Maxwell 2-0-25-0, BW Hilfenhaus 3-0-18-1, PJ Cummins 3-0-14-1, XJ Doherty 3-0-12-0, SR Watson 2.5-0-9-1, CL White 1-0-12-0
Toss: Pakistan
Umpires: Ahsan Raza (PAK) and Shozab Raza (PAK)
Tv umpire: Zameer Haider (PAK)