Melbourne: Australian spinner Nathan Hauritz took his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests as the hosts beat Pakistan by 170 runs on the fifth and final day of the Boxing Day Test here Wednesday. Australia have now taken a 1-0 lead in the series.
Chasing a record 422 for victory, Pakistan started the day at the overnight score of 170 for 3, but were bowled out for just 251.
Mitchell Johnson dealt two severe blows in the first over of the day and the visitors just couldn't recover after that. Pakistan skipper Mohammad Yousuf hit a fighting 61 but clearly missed the support from the middle order.
With this win, Ricky Ponting also became Australia's most successful Test captain with 42 Test wins from 65 matches. Former skipper Steve Waugh had 41 wins from 57 Tests.
Watson triumph
Shane Watson, who came good with the bat in both the innings, was adjudged the Man of the Match.
"It's been a great game for us. It's one of our best Test wins in quite a while, starting right from the start of the game from the Katich and Watson partnership which really set the platform and set the foundation for a very good Test match for us," Ponting said later.
Good effort
The winners had enough reasons to cheer: Watson scored his first Test century on top of 93 in the first innings; Ponting, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey and Hauritz all scored half-centuries; Hauritz collected his maiden five-wicket haul; and Mitchell Johnson continued to regain some of the spark he lost during the Ashes.
"We are building a squad of players right at the moment that in a couple of years time are going to be a very dominant team again," Ponting said.
"At the moment it is my job to keep the group together and keep challenging them and keep helping the younger guys out and keep winning as many games of cricket as we can."
Later, they named an unchanged 12-member squad for the second Test, beginning in Sydney from Sunday. New South Wales spinner Steven Smith, who was called to join the 12-man squad in Melbourne as cover for Nathan Hauritz, has been left out.
Victorian paceman Clint McKay, who was with the team as 12th man for the Boxing Day Test, has been retained in the squad, a Cricket Australia statement said.
Squad: Ricky Ponting (c), Michael Clarke (v-c), Simon Katich, Shane Watson, Mike Hussey, Marcus North, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger and Clint McKay.
