Gillespie finds a way through Afridi's defence

Australia chose to omit their fastest bowler, Brett Lee, but still had plenty of seam options with Andy Bichel and Shane Watson backing up Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie.

Adam Gilchrist gave them a flying start with four early boundaries but he perished in the ninth over for 21 when Wasim Akram had him caught by Azhar Mahmood.

The setback did not disturb their momentum, however, with skipper Ricky Ponting collecting two sixes and seven fours in his 65 from 72 balls as he put on 128 with Hayden.

Ponting gave Shahid Afridi a return catch in the 29th over and the leg-spinner also removed Damien Martyn for 12, but Jimmy Maher weighed in with 35 while fellow Queenslander Hayden dominated proceedings at the other end.

Hayden raced past the 111 he made in India last year before finally being caught by Malik off Akram, who finished with two for 62 from his 10 overs.

Top order collapse

Pakistan were soon in trouble in reply as Gillespie dismissed Imran Nazir and Afridi in the space of three balls in his opening over.

New ball partner Glenn McGrath was not to be outdone and he bowled Abdur Razzaq for five and trapped Saeed Anwar lbw for three for figures of two for 11 from six overs.

Younis Khan was next to go, caught behind off Shane Warne for 13, and they were 67 for six when Malik (25) edged a ball from Andy Bichel to wicket-keeper Gilchrist.

Youngster Shane Watson struck a vital blow with the wicket of Mahmood and Pakistan only just managed to scrape past 100 before Gillespie wrapped things up.

Australia: R T Ponting (Capt), A C Gilchrist (Wkt), M L Hayden, D R Martyn, J P Maher, M G Bevan, S R Watson, S K Warne, A J Bichel, J N Gillespie, G D McGrath.

Pakistan: Waqar Younis (Capt), Wasim Akram, Rashid Latif (Wkt), Shoaib Malik, Saeed Anwar, Azhar Mahmood, Abdur Razzaq, Younis Khan, Imran Nazir, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar.