ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Australia vs Pakistan - Stats of the match

Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq played their final ODIs for Pakistan

Australia beat Pakistan by 6 wickets in the third quarter-final of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, held at the Adelaide Oval, to set up a clash against India in the semi-final at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) next Thursday. Electing to bat first after winning the toss, none of the Pakistani batsmen could manage to get to a half-century, with Haris Sohail top-scoring with 41 as the Pakistanis were bundled out for 213 within 50 overs.

In reply, Australia lost their opening pair of Aaron Finch and David Warner early and when they lost skipper Michael Clarke for 8 in the 11th over of the innings with the score on 59, the match was back on an even keel. But Steven Smith calmed the nerves of the dressing room with a majestic innings of 65 and along with Shane Watson, who after a difficult start got into the groove, all but ended Pakistan’s hopes with a 89-run stand.

Following the dismissal of Smith, Glenn Maxwell walked in and finished the job to help his side enter the final four after a gap of 8 years.

Here are the most important numbers from the match:

7 - Australia will make their 7th appearance in a semi-final of the World Cup when they take on India at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on March 26. No other team has reached the final four in the World Cup as many times as they have. Ominously from India’s perspective, they are yet to lose in a semi-final. If New Zealand win their quarter-final against the West Indies on Saturday, they would join their Trans-Tasman rivals on the same number.

12 - Number of sixes hit by Shahid Afridi in World Cup games. He now holds the record for the most number of sixes by a Pakistan player in the history of the competition, overtaking the 11 hit by Wasim Akram.

7 - Number of sixes hit by Misbah-ul-Haq in this World Cup. He has also gone past the great Akram, who previously held the record for the most sixes hit by a Pakistani skipper in a single World Cup. The former speedster cleared the fence on 6 occasions during the 1999 edition of the tournament.

2 - During his knock of 34, Misbah also became only the second Pakistani captain, after Imran Khan, to score 3000 runs as skipper. The 40-year-old has scored 3001 runs in 87 matches as captain of the ODI side.

18 - Number of wickets taken by Mitchell Starc in this World Cup so far. The left-arm pacer took figures of 2 for 40 in 10 overs on Friday and has certainly been one of the stand-out performers in the current edition of the mega event.

79 - Starc has now picked up 79 wickets after 39 ODIs, which is the most number of scalps taken by any bowler after playing that many ODIs.

11 - Number of wickets lost by Pakistan in the first power play of the ongoing World Cup. Only West Indies (13) have lost more wickets than them in this tournament.

1 - Pakistan have become the first team in the history of the World Cup to have had left-arm pacers taking 100 wickets combined. Pakistan fielded two left-arm pacers, namely Wahab Riaz and Rahat Ali, on Friday.

12 - The win on Friday was Australia’s 12th consecutive win against Pakistan at home across all three International formats of the game.

4 - All 10 Pakistan batsmen were dismissed caught on Friday, which is the fourth time that a team has got all out through that particular mode of dismissal in this World Cup. Overall, it is the 6th instance.