Aussies down Pakistan 3-0, eye India

Australia have completed a 3-0 Test series sweep over Pakistan, with skipper Steve Smith already thinking about India after a 220-run win at the SCG.

Josh Hazlewood of Australia (centre) celebrates with his team mates

Australia need nine more wickets to complete a 3-0 Test series sweep over Pakistan. (AAP)

Australia are riding high after Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe spun them to a fourth straight Test win, but Steve Smith knows an otherworldly challenge awaits.

Smith was named man of the series on Saturday, when Lyon and O'Keefe turned the screws in a 220-run victory over Pakistan at the SCG.

The tourists resumed at 1-55 on day five of the third Test, having been set a target of 465 following Smith's declaration on day four.

They were eventually rolled for 244, suffering a 3-0 series loss after threatening to drag the contest into its final session.

Smith was thrilled his team extended a turnaround that started in the wake of a five-Test losing streak.

The skipper's thoughts quickly turned to the four-Test tour of India that starts next month.

"It's a completely different place," Smith said.

"Playing on those wickets is nothing like playing on wickets in Australia. Guys are going to have to adapt quickly.

"We're under no illusions it's going to be tough.

"The core of this group will take part in India, a few of us have been there before and we know it's an extremely difficult."

Smith is one of few players remaining in the XI from Australia's most recent Test tour of India, the 4-0 loss in 2013 marred by the infamous homeworkgate incident.

Australia have won just one of their past nine Test series in India. Tweakers Lyon and O'Keefe will have to play out of their skins to down the world's top-ranked Test side on their own soil.

"They did a great job bowling together," Smith said.

"They spin the ball different ways, so you can use them to certain batters and with certain conditions."

David Warner was named man of the match in Sydney, having rewritten the record books with a pre-lunch ton on day one of the Test then a 23-ball half-century on day four.

Lyon, whose status as the country's frontline spinner was in immense doubt earlier this summer, finished the match with five wickets.

The offspinner earned the praise of Smith, coach Darren Lehmann and legendary legspinner Shane Warne.

"That's the best he has bowled for a long period of time," Lehmann said.

"He used his variation really well, bowled well to right and left handers ... he was exceptional."

Warne suggested Lyon "couldn't bowl much better" than Saturday's morning spell that featured the dismissal of first-innings centurion Younis Khan.

Smith was likewise thrilled with Lyon, who rediscovered his mojo by helping bowl Australia to series victory in the Boxing Day Test and O'Keefe.

"Nathan bowled particularly well in Melbourne to get us on that roll on the final day and he backed it up," Smith said.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, one of O'Keefe's three victims on Saturday, summed up his team's effort.

"It was a tough series ... they played far better than us," Misbah said.

It was Pakistan's 12th straight Test loss in Australia, with the sides to now contest a five-match ODI series that starts in Brisbane on Friday.


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Source: AAP



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