Adelaide, Australia: Paceman Josh Hazlewood justified his selection by taking four wickets to help co-host Australia restrict Pakistan to 213 on Friday in the Cricket World Cup quarterfinals.
Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and elected to bat, but his decision backfired as Pakistan slumped to 24-2 in the sixth over with Mitchell Starc removed in-form opener Sarfraz Ahmed (10) in the fifth over and Hazlewood taking his first wicket in the next over to dismiss Ahmed Shehzad (4).
Misbah had a reprieve before he'd scored when a delivery from Hazlewood brushed his thigh pad and grazed his leg stump, making the bail flash without dislodging it. The Australians appealed but didn't review the not out decision.
As he has so often in the tournament, the Pakistan skipper then set about restoring the innings and shared a 73-run partnership with Haris Sohail (41) for the third wicket. But just as confidence was growing, Misbah uncharacteristically attacked part-time spinner Glenn Maxwell (2-43) and was caught on the boundary by Finch for 34, making the total 97-3.
Five of the Pakistan batsmen got decent starts but didn't go on with it, with Soahil leading the runscorers with 41 from 57 balls before he was caught behind off Mitchell Johnson in the 27th to make the score 112-4.
Maxwell dismissed Umar Akmal (20) the same way he removed Misbah, and then Hazlewood and Finch combined to remove dangerman Shahid Afridi for 23 in the 34th over as Pakistan slid to 158-6.
Hazlewood also dismissed Sohaib Maqsood (29) and Sohail Khan (4) to return figures of 4-35 from 10 overs in only his third match of the tournament. The bustling right-arm paceman was recalled at the expense of Pat Cummins in the only change to Australia's lineup from the last pool match.
Starc (2-40) had Wahab Riaz (16) caught behind for his tournament-leading 18th wicket and James Faulkner picked of Ehsan Adil (15) caught in the deep on the next-to-last ball of the 50th over.
Australia has won the World Cup title four times, but never on home soil. Pakistan won the title in 1992, coming back from a woeful start to beat England in the final the last time the tournament was staged in Australia and New Zealand.
The winner of Friday's match at the Adelaide Oval will meet defending champion India in the semifinals.
