World champions Australia completed a 5-0 whitewash over Pakistan with a clinical 20-run win in the fifth and final one-day international despite a brilliant hundred from Haris Sohail in Dubai on Sunday.
Sohail scored a 129-ball 130 for his second one-day international hundred but failed to take Pakistan past Australia's imposing 327-7, finishing at 307-7 in 50 overs.
Australia's total was built around Usman Khawaja's 98 and a fiery 33-ball 70 by Glenn Maxwell coupled with Shaun Marsh's 61 and skipper Aaron Finch's 53 in a dominating batting show.
The series win gives Australia an eighth straight one-day victory following their 3-2 series win in India after losing the first two matches.
It gives them a sixth successive series win over Pakistan since losing in 2002 (in Australia) and fourth whitewash over their opponents – 1998 (3-0 in Pakistan), 2010 (5-0 in Australia) and in 2014 (3-0 in United Arab Emirates).
Australia's resurgence – after winning just three of their 18 matches between January 2018 to the first two matches in India earlier last month – could not have been more perfectly timed as they defend their World Cup title in England in two months.
Sohail, who hit 11 boundaries and three sixes, had set up the chase during a second wicket stand of 108 with Shan Masood (50 off 54 balls) and another 102 with Umar Akmal (44-ball 43) before Australia hit back with two wickets in the space of one run.
Umar holed out to off-spinner Nathan Lyon and a run later Sohail's innings was ended by Kane Richardson.
Stand-in skipper Imad Wasim, deputising for injured Shoaib Malik (captain for the series), hit a 34-ball 50 not out with six boundaries and a six, but it proved futile.
Pakistan had lost Abid Ali – who made a debut hundred in the last game – for nought in the first over. Earlier, Khawaja and Maxwell made merry against Pakistan's bowling attack.
It was Maxwell's ten fours and three sixes that helped Australia to 107 runs in the last ten overs. He was finally bowled by paceman Junaid Khan who finished with three wickets for 63.
Khawaja (98), who hit ten boundaries in his 111-ball innings, set the platform with a solid 134-run opening stand with Finch for the pair's second hundred run stand in the series.
Finch was finally bowled by pacer Usman Shinwari, finishing with 451 runs in the series, only 27 short of George Bailey's record in a bilateral series he made against India in 2013.
Khawaja, who made his first two ODI career hundreds in India earlier last month, was all set for his third but fell to a miscued drive off Shinwari, who finished with 4-49.
Khawaja added 80 for the second wicket with Marsh who hit five fours and a six in his 68-ball knock.
Australia won the first two matches in Sharjah by identical margins of eight wickets before winning the third in Abu Dhabi by 80 runs and fourth in Dubai by six runs.

Australia were one win away from a One-day International series whitewash against Pakistan after the hosts were left to rue a batting collapse on Friday night that ranks among the all-time great chokes in cricket history.
Abid Ali – on debut – and Mohammad Rizwan both posted centuries for Pakistan and they were well placed to win the fourth ODI at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium as the hosts needed 66 runs from the final 10 overs.
But Pakistan fell in an extraordinary heap to lose six wickets for 52 runs and the match by six runs as Nathan Coulter-Nile (3-53 off 10 overs) and Marcus Stoinis (2-20) delivered at the death for Australia.
In the 4,119 ODIs to have been played, Pakistan’s defeat in Dubai was only the fourth time a run chase has featured two centurions in a losing cause.
India achieved that dubious feat twice, most recently in January 2016 at Manuka Oval when Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli hit tons before a collapse of nine wickets for 46 runs in 12 overs.
It means Australia are the only team whose bowlers have twice performed such extraordinary ‘get-out-of-jail’ acts.
“The two hundreds were positives for us, but we should have won this game,” Pakistan’s stand-in skipper Imad Wasim said after the match. “We were lacking the power hitting. We were short, so it shows we were lacking something. They [Australia] bowled beautifully [but] some of the shots were not on in that situation.”
Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell — who won plaudits for selflessly pushing for a second run in the final over of Australia’s innings only to be run out for 98 — said the visitors had been confident breaking the partnership between Abid and Rizwan could turn the match.
“We knew if we could break that partnership it was going to be hard for a new batter to start,” Maxwell said. “Once Abid got his 100, he started to play a few more shots and started to try and take on the fielders a bit more, which probably played into our hands a bit.
“With the ball wet and heavy it was actually hard to clear the rope. So we just tried to apply as much pressure as possible on the new batsman and that went well for us from then on.”
The ever-animated Mickey Arthur had a face like thunder on the Pakistan team’s balcony, while Maxwell said the roll the Australia side are on at the moment meant the side was able to find a way to win.
“That’s the great thing about this group at the moment, we’re finding ways to win in different conditions, in different ways,” Maxwell said. “I think it’s one of those games where because we’ve had a bit of winning momentum behind us, you find a way to win these.
“If you look back six or seven months ago, probably even less, we were probably on the other side of it — we were finding ways to lose when we were in winning positions.
“So it’s a funny thing winning momentum. When you’re winning games, you just find a way to win.
“That’s why I’m really proud of this group, we just hung in there and were able to just keep the run-rate at bay.”

Sri Lanka Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne was reportedly arrested for drunk driving in Colombo on Sunday morning after he was involved in an accident that put the driver of a three-wheeler in a hospital.
"He was arrested early this morning for drinking and driving after the vehicle driven by him hit a three-wheeler and injured its driver," police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said.
The cricketer has so far, not responded to the incident. Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed the incident and said they will follow due process in determining the future course of action.
"Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to inform that a road accident has occurred in the early hours of Sunday between a three-wheeler and a vehicle driven by national player Dimuth Karunaratne," the board said in a statement.
"In the meantime, Sri Lanka Cricket will also follow the due process as per his ‘Player Contractual Obligation’ with the organisation and conduct an inquiry in order to take necessary action," it said.

By Romeo Kaseram
Robert Julian ‘Sugarfoot’ Christiani, was born in Georgetown, in what was then British Guiana, on July 19, 1920, the third of six brothers. According to Tony Cozier, writing in The Wisden Cricketer, as young sportsmen and athletes, Christiani and his brothers were inspired by their mother, a “coach, motivator and regular scorer”. The maternal intervention into the sporting careers of the siblings went even further, with Shan Razack reporting in CaribbeanCricket.com the Christiani matriarch “… would often inspect the placid Bourda pitch before the first ball was bowled”.
So instrumental was mother in her encouragement and guidance that four brothers went on to play professional cricket. Christiani’s eldest brother Cyril was a wicketkeeper, having toured England in 1933, and played in all four home Tests against England in 1934-1935. Sadly, he passed away at age 24 in 1938 from malaria; brothers Ernest and Harry also represented British Guiana.
Derek Hodgson, writing in The Independent, describes Christiani as an attractive, attacking right-hand batsman, who was especially strong in driving, bowled useful off-breaks, was brilliant in the close field, and was also a wicketkeeper. Hodgson adds Christiani’s “accomplishments were such that he could probably have commanded a regular place in any other team in the world other than that fielded by West Indies in the decade after the Second World War”. Unfortunately, as Hodgson, and other analysts, notes it was Christiani’s misfortune to have been born in 1920, which put him in the direct trajectory of the “mighty mid-order contemporaries… Frank Worrell (born 1924), Everton Weekes (1925) and Clyde Walcott (1926)”. Cozier also notes how Christiani’s cricketing path followed in the shadow cast by these three bright lights, telling us his batting spot was “[invariably] down the order at No. 6 or No. 7 in a team whose middle order was dominated by Weekes and the other two Ws”.
Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack also highlights Christiani’s prowess, along with the impediment of his appearance down in the batting order, noting his first Test century against India at Delhi during the 1948-1949 tour was achieved “after going in at No. 8”. Additionally, “This was a recurring problem: the presence of the three Ws often forced him lower in the order than his strokeplay warranted.” While Christiani’s path to greatness was blocked by the three Ws early in the order, his prowess with the bat appears to have also been doomed in the opening line-up, with Wisden noting his proficiency as an all-rounder included skills as an opener. Yet, “even in that position, his path was blocked for most of his career by the regular performances and consistent play of Jeffrey Stollmeyer… and Allen Rae...”
However, it is beyond doubt Christiani was as proficient a player as he was an entertaining batsman. Quoting the late West Indian cricketer, Andy Ganteaume, Wisden notes, “[Christiani] played all the shots and was not the least bit inhibited by bowling.” Later, Ganteaume is quoted by Vaniesha Baskh writing in the Trinidad Guardian, that: “If I had to pick an entertainer, Robert would be one of them. He played all the shots and was not in the least bit inhibited by bowling. He just went after it and enjoyed himself tremendously. He was a beautiful player, lovely to watch…”
In a series of Stabroek News articles, ‘Remembering Robert Christiani’, Winston McGowan tells us, “… Christiani was easily recognisable on a cricket field. He was fairly tall (slightly under six feet in height), bespectacled (wearing thick lenses) and bow-legged. He was a very versatile cricketer. At the zenith of his career he was primarily a batsman – an attractive attacking right-hander who was a superb strokeplayer. He was known especially for his beautiful drives through the off-side, his fine hooking and his quick daring foot-working against spin bowling.”
Like Ganteaume, McGowan fills in the picture of a versatile batsman between the stumps: “It is doubtful whether any other Guyanese or West Indies batsman of any era has advanced down the wicket to spin bowlers as far and as regularly as Christiani. Yet he was seldom dismissed stumped.” Ganteaume, on the other hand, laughingly recalls for Baksh “some of the wickets lost as a consequence of Christiani’s daring”, concluding that “watching Christiani’s style was worth the hazards”.
Christiani’s career saw 22 Tests and 88 First Class matches. He scored 896 Test runs, for an average of 26.35; in First Class games, he scored 5,103 runs, for an average of 40.50. He scored 12 First Class centuries, and one Test century, 107, against India during the 1948-1949 tour; it was during this tour where he also performed well with the ball, taking three wickets for 52 runs in 23 overs.
However, while playing in his first Test in January 1948 against England, which Wikipedia notes he was one of seven debutantes fielded by the West Indies, Christiani acquired what McGowan describes as the “unenviable record of being the first West Indian cricketer to be dismissed for 99 runs in a Test match”. One run short of his Test debut century in the second innings, the unfortunate 27-year-old, as the sympathetic Cozier notes, “had the traumatic experience of being given out lbw to Ken Cranston”; it was “a misfortune that reportedly reduced him – and no doubt, most of Guyana – to tears”.
While Cozier, and other commentators, note Christiani’s “modest average of 26.35 in 22 Tests for West Indies between 1948 and 1954”, at the same time he admits these statistics do not adequately reflect the quality of this gifted player. Cozier acknowledges the figures conceal “a player of nimble footwork and a positive and altogether joyful approach to the game whose slim, boyish physique and ever-present spectacles simply added to his appeal”.
To appreciate Christiani in true flight is to note with Cozier, Razack, and other commentators, what McGowan describes as his “moderate” figures and statistics as being quite deceptive. In Razack’s words, “The number of runs [Christiani] scored was less important than how he scored them… What the English cricket writer, Neville Cardus had said of Victor Trumper is true of Christiani: he was an artist cricketer. He combined instinctive improvisation and aerobatic skill with the precision and delicacy of a ballet dancer.”
Christiani emigrated from Guyana to Canada following his cricket career, and settled in Toronto. He died on January 4, 2005, from complications caused by Alzheimer’s disease.

TEAMS' ABBREVIATIONS:
Chennai Superkings CS Delhi Capitals DC Kolkatta Knight Riders KKR
Mumbai Indians MI Rajasthan Royals RR Kings XI Punjab KXIP
Sunrisers Hyderabad SH Royal Challengers Bangalore RCB

1st Match, (N) at Chennai, Mar 23, 2019
RCB 70; CSK 71/3 (17.4/20 ov, target 71)
CSK won by 7 wkts (with 14 balls remaining)
2nd Match, (D/N) at Kolkata, Mar 24, 2019
SH 181/3; KKR 183/4 (19.4/20 ov, target 182)
KKR won by 6 wkts (with 2 balls remaining)
3rd Match, (N) at Mumbai, Mar 24, 2019
DC 213/6; MI 176 (19.2/20 ov, target 214)
Delhi Capitals won by 37 runs
4th Match, (N) at Jaipur, Mar 25, 2019
KXIP 184/4; RR 170/9 (20 ov, target 185)
Kings XI Punjab won by 14 runs
5th Match, (N) at Delhi, Mar 26, 2019
DC 147/6; CSK 150/4 (19.4/20 ov, target 148)
CSK won by 6 wickets (with 2 balls remaining)
6th Match, (N) at Kolkata, Mar 27, 2019
KKR 218/4; KXIP 190/4 (20 ov, target 219)
KKR won by 28 runs
7th Match, (N) at Bengaluru, Mar 28, 2019
MI 187/8; RCB 181/5 (20 ov, target 188)
Mumbai Indians won by 6 runs
8th Match, (N) at Hyderabad, Mar 29, 2019
RR 198/2; SH 201/5 (19/20 ov, target 199)
SH won by 5 wickets (with 6 balls remaining)
9th Match, (D/N) at Chandigarh, Mar 30/19
MI 176/7; KXIP 177/2 (18.4/20 ov, target 177)
KXIP won by 8 wkts (with 8 balls remaining)
10th Match, (N) at Delhi, Mar 30. 2019
KKR 185/8; DC 185/6 (20 ov, target 186)
Match tied (DC won the one-over eliminator)
11th Match, (D/N) at Hyderabad, Mar 31/19
SH 231/2; RCB 113 (19.5/20 ov, target 232)
Sunrisers won by 118 runs
12th Match, (N) at Chennai, Mar 31. 2019
CSK 175/5; RR 167/8 (20 ov, target 176)
Super Kings won by 8 runs
13th Match, (N) at Chandigarh, Apr 1, 2019
KXIP 166/9; DC 152 (19.2/20 ov, target 167)
Kings XI won by 14 runs
14th Match, (N) at Jaipur, Apr 2. 2019
RCB 158/4; RR 164/3 (19.5/20 ov, target 159)
RR won by 7 wickets (with 1 ball remaining)
15th Match, (N), Mumbai, Apr 3: MI v CSK
16th Match, (N) at Delhi, Apr 4/19: DC v SH
17th Match, (N) at B'luru, Apr 5: RCB v KKR
18th Match, (D/N), C'nai, Apr 6: CSK v KXIP
19th Match, (N) at H'bad, Apr 6: SH v MI
20th Match, (D/N), B'luru, Apr 7: RCB v DC
21st Match, (N) at Jaipur, Apr 7; RR v KKR
22nd Match, (N) at C'garh, Apr 8: KXIP v SH
23rd Match, (N), Chennai, Apr 9: CSK v KKR
24th Match, (N), Mumbai, Apr 10: MI v KXIP
25th Match, (N) at Jaipur, Apr 11: RR v CSK
26th Match, (N), Kolkata, Apr 12: KKR v DC
27th Match, (D/N), Mumbai, Apr 13: MI v RR
28th Match, (N), C'garh, Apr 13: KXIP v RCB
29th Match, (D/N), K'kata, Ap 14: KKR v CSK
30th Match, (N), Hyderabad, Apr 14: SH v DC
31st Match, (N) at Mumbai, Apr 15: MI v RCB
32nd Match, (N), C'garh, Apr 16: KXIP v RR
33rd Match, (N), H'bad, Apr 17: SH v CSK
34th Match, (N) at Delhi, Apr 18: DC v MI
35th Match, (N), Kolkata, Apr 19: KKR v RCB
36th Match, (D/N), Jaipur, Apr 20: RR v MI
37th Match, (N) at Delhi, Apr 20: DC v KXIP
38th Match, (D/N), H'bad, Apr 21: SH v KKR
39th Match, (N), B'luru, Apr 21: RCB v CSK
40th Match, (N) at Jaipur, Apr 22: RR v DC
41st Match, (N), Chennai, Apr 23: CSK v SH
42nd Match, (N), B'luru, Apr 24: RCB v KXIP
43rd Match, (N), Kolkata, Apr 25: KKR v RR
44th Match, (N), Chennai, Apr 26: CSK v MI
45th Match, (N) at Jaipur, Apr 27: RR v SH
46th Match, (D/N), Delhi, Apr 28: DH v RCB
47th Match, (N), Kolkata, Apr 28: KKR v MI
48th Match, (N), H'bad, Apr 29: SH v KXIP
49th Match, (N) at B'luru, Apr 30: RCB v RR
50th Match, (N), Chennai, May 1: CSK v DC
51st Match, (N), Mumbai, May 2: MI v SH
52nd Match, (N), C'garh, May 3: KXIP v KKR
53rd Match, (D/N), Delhi, May 4: DC v RR
54th Match, (N) at B'luru, May 4: RCB v SH
55th Match, (D/N), C'garh, May 5: KXIP v CSK
56th Match, (N), Mumbai, May 5: MI v KKR

Cricketing greats backed Virat Kohli Friday after he slammed a “ridiculous” no-ball error which condemned his Royal Challengers Bangalore side to defeat against the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
Hosts Bangalore needed seven to win Thursday's match off the final delivery when Mumbai's Lasith Malinga bowled a dot ball — but replays suggested the paceman had overstepped the line.
A no-ball would not only have given Bangalore one extra run but also a free hit and a chance to win the game. However, they lost by six runs.
“We are playing at the IPL level and not playing club cricket. The umpires should have had their eyes open. That's a ridiculous call at the last ball,” India captain Kohli said, after the mistake was shown on the giant screen.
“If it is a game of margins, I don't know what is happening. They should have been more sharp and careful out there,” he added.
On-field umpire Sundaram Ravi, India's only representative in ICC's Elite panel, was responsible for the missed no-ball.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan led calls for a technological solution to cut no-balls out of cricket.
“In an era of so much technology and with so much at stake NO BALLS should never ever be missed,” Vaughan wrote on Twitter.
Ex-England batsman Kevin Pietersen said that in a world of advanced technology “a NO BALL like that should NOT happen”.
Cricketer-turned-commentator Dean Jones sarcastically suggested having “another umpire on the ground to call no balls”.
And Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma, whose team registered their first win in the tournament, said such mistakes were “not good for the game”.
“There's a TV up there, they have to watch what's happening... Eventually it's not good for the game and whatever is not good for the game, I won't stand for that,” said Sharma.
“Those decisions can cost you games and those games can cost you the tournament. We work really hard to win the tournament and those kind of mistakes are not acceptable.”
It is the second flare-up in just the first week of competition of the world's most popular T20 league after the 'Mankad' dismissal of England batsman Jos Buttler that also brought the umpiring into question.
The Rajasthan Royals batsman was run out at the non-striker's end by Indian spinner and Kings XI Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin, who whipped the bails off before bowling his delivery on Monday.
The method of dismissal, named after former India player Vinoo Mankad, is legal but is seen by many as going against the game's values, unless the batsman has been warned first.
Cricket's rules-setting MCC criticised the dismissal, saying “we don't think it was within the spirit of the game”.

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