Australia will face India in the semi-final of the ICC World cup after they survived a spell of destructive bowling from Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz in Adelaide.
Chasing just 214 on a batting surface seemed routine with the calibre of Australia’s top order, however Wahab Riaz tore through Warner and Clarke with pace exceeding 90mph to leave Australia 59-3.
Shane Watson and Steve Smith soon powered Australia in control with scores of 65 and 64 at a near run a ball to set up the win for the Aussies with 16 overs still to spare.
Glenn Maxwell in typical fashion bludgeoned to 44 of just 29 balls to seal the victory which makes him the Aussies top scorer in the tournament with 301 runs with a strike rate of 183.
Josh Hazelwood did the job with the ball for the home side as he took 4 for 35 as Pakistan capitulated from 97 for 2 to 213 all out.
However the Aussies chase came with its struggles after defying a pumped up Wahab Riaz who was carting the ball down the track at a surprisingly vulnerable top order.
Riaz send Warner packing after a miss timed shot, Clarke was the pace man’s next victim after he bowled a rapid throat high bouncer to give Sohail Maqsood an easy catch at mid-wicket.
Riaz’s blood was boiling as he directed his verbal’s at a struggling Shane Watson who was dropped on 4 after a thorough working over by the left arm fast bowler.
However Smith at the other end calmly and collectedly went about his business finding the boundary 7 times which helped Watson gain confidence to start playing his shots as he managed seven 4’s and one 6.
Pakistan had a sniffle of hope when Smith was trapped LBW by Ehsan Adil, although it was the men in green’s fielding which let them down after Maxwell was dropped on 5 by Sohail Khan.
Mitchell Starc was the notable threat for the home side taking the most wickets in the tournament thus far with 16, he maintained his form as he dismissed Sarfraz Ahmed early on for just 10.
With Pakistan looking doomed at 24 for 2 Misbah Ul-Haq and Haris Sohail put on 73 to stable the away side’s innings, it was the spin of Maxwell which got the wicket of Misbah for 34 as he found Aaron Finch after his miss timed slog sweep.
No Pakistan batsman was able to get going with the majority falling for scores of just over 20 after a combination of careless shots and solid bowling.
Hazelwood the most impressive with the dangerous Shahid Afridi being one of his 4 casualties as he looked to get his eye in after three 4’s and one 6 to his total of just 23 of 15 balls.
Pakistan skipper Misbah proudly said: "Wahab bowled his heart out and I have never seen such a spell before. Had we not dropped catches, who knows we may well have won. Overall, I am happy with how the team played this World Cup.