After their somewhat of a surprise win at WACA, Pakistan would have felt they were in with a chance to run the Aussies really close in the first final at Melbourne. And things began really well for Inzi as his troops had Australia reeling at 53-3. Australia had dropped the out-of-form Hayden and instead asked Clarke to open the innings with Gilchrist. But the ever-consistent Clarke had a rare failure when Rana Naved-ul-Hasan had him leg before for nine. Mohammed Khalil got rid of the dangerous Gilchrist just when he was beginning to look threatening. Gilchrist was caught in the deep by Abdul Razzaq for 24. Skipper Ponting too perished, bowled by Rao Iftikhar for 11 and Pakistan looked in control at least till then.

Andrew Symonds was probably going through the worst phase of his career. But he came out and delivered when it mattered the most. Symonds, who resurrected his career with his century against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup, hit seven fours in a knock of 91, but more importantly, he was involved in a fourth wicket partnership of 137 with Damien Martyn. Martyn did not hit a single boundary in his painstaking knock, but his innings was crucial in the context of the game as the batsmen to follow weren't in great form either.

Australia certainly suffered once Martyn was dismissed, stumped off the ever-improving Shahid Afridi. Abdul Razzaq then took over, running through the Aussie lower-order and ending with figures of 3-33. Razzaq claimed the crucial wickets of Symonds, Katich and Watson. From 190-3, Australia collapsed to 237 all out.

After their successful chase at WACA, Pakistan should have been confident of victory. But this was a final, and we all know Pakistan's tendency to crumble under pressure.

Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath too were more than aware of this fact. Both gave an exhibition of superlative fast bowling as Pakistan collapsed to 27-4 in no time. Lee had promising Pakistani opener Salman Butt lbw for a duck and Yousuf Youhana for two. At the other end, McGrath sent back Kamran Akmal and Mohammed Hafeez to put the Aussies back on top. Inzamam and Shoaib Malik put up some resistance with fighting half centuries. But once Lee sent back Inzi for 51, it seemed all over for Pakistan. Well almost. Shahid Afridi is striking the ball as well as he has ever done in his career. He and Rana, who contributed 29, tried to change the script of the game. But the Aussie bowlers were just too good for them. McGrath came back and got rid of Afridi for 26 and that was the end of it. Pakistan once again were left wondering what they would have achieved with a bit more consistency. This might begin to sound clichéd by now, but the fact remains that the Aussies once again proved they are the best.