Australia rode an unbeaten century from captain Michael Clarke and a five-wicket haul from Doug Bollinger to hand Pakistan an eight-wicket defeat and secure an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match one-day series.
Clarke scored a fluent 100 off 122 deliveries while Shane Watson supported him with 85 not out as the two helped Australia easily reach its measly target of 198 set by Pakistan.
Doug Bollinger had wrecked Pakistan's line-up with an accurate spell which earned him the brilliant figures of 5-35 in only his second one-dayer, but Shoaib Akhtar threatened to better that effort when he sent back both openers cheaply, reducing Australia to 2-3.
But Clarke and Watson weathered the storm and lifted Australia out of a slump with an unbroken third-wicket stand worth 197 as Australia finished at 2-200 in 44.2 overs.
Shoaib dismissed Brad Haddin for a golden duck and ended debutant Marcus North's innings early by trapping him in front for one.
Shoaib should have had the wicket of Watson immediately thereafter, but his appeal for leg before was turned down by umpire Aleem Dar.
Sohail Tanvir, Akhtar's new-ball partner, kept the pressure on with a maiden first up, but Clarke and Watson slowly wrested control.
Younus Khan shuffled his bowlers around and even brought on Shahid Afridi inside the powerplay in an effort to break the partnership, but the Australian duo remained watchful and resolute.
Afridi's match ended at the start of the 36th over when he came on to bowl and pulled up with a strained calf muscle even before he could deliver. He hobbled off the field, with three overs of his quota remaining.
Clarke brought up his fourth one-day century with a cracking cover drive off Shoaib, while Watson finished off the chase by sweeping Saeed Ajmal for a boundary.
Earlier Afridi made a run-a-ball 40 and opener Ahmed Shehzad top scored with a patient 43, but Pakistan's innings stuttered and stumbled and eventually ended in 48.4 overs.
Bollinger, who was handed the new ball, secured his first one-day international wicket when he dismissed the dangerous Salman Butt (two) off just the third delivery of the innings.
Then Younus, who got off the mark with an inside-edged boundary that narrowly missed leg stump, made seven before he was accounted for by Nathan Bracken, the left-arm seamer pegging back leg stump via an inside edge.
Bracken should have had the wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq with his next ball, the Pakistan vice-captain edging to Haddin, but umpire Dar ruled not out.
Misbah struggled against the spinners and looked scratchy right through, but he rode his luck and added 68 for the third wicket with Shehzad.
Misbah's laboured innings finally ended on 34 when he attempted to sweep Clarke, missed the ball completely and was trapped plumb in front.
Pakistan then lost wickets in quick succession as Shehzad holed out to long-on.
Shoaib Malik (27), who had shown positive intent, became Bollinger's second victim when he was trapped in front by the left-arm quick and Kamran Akmal managed just one run before he was bowled by Stuart Clark.
Afridi, in typically brisk fashion, knocked the bowlers around, all the while getting Pakistan closer to the 200-run mark.
He had hammered Clark for a couple boundaries in the seamer's sixth over, but mistimed a pull while attempting to force the pace in the batting powerplay and presented Bollinger with his third wicket.
Yasir Arafat chipped in with a useful, unbeaten 23, but Bollinger ran through the tail, claiming the wickets of Shoaib and Saeed Ajmal in his eighth over as Pakistan's innings came to an end.
The fifth match of the series is on Sunday.
Australia took a 2-1 lead in the five-match one-day series after beating Pakistan by 27 runs in Abu Dhabi on Monday evening.
Pakistan had restricted Australia to 7-198 from its 50 overs but could only manage 171 all out in reply.
Skipper Michael Clarke was again Australia's hero as he made a battling 63 before taking 3-15 with the ball.
A ragged spell from left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir - who was picked at the expense of Shoaib Akhtar - helped Australia openers Brad Haddin and James Hopes make a cracking start in good batting conditions.
Haddin struck Tanvir for consecutive blows in his first over, the left-arm seamer conceding 14 runs in his first two overs.
Umar Gul, who had handled the new ball, was also a touch expensive to begin with, helping Australia flourish.
But Pakistan hit back with skipper Younus Khan throwing down the stumps at the non-striker's end with a direct throw from mid-off catching Hopes (15) just short of his crease while the batsman attempted a single.
Gul then sent back Shane Watson for a second-ball duck immediately after to have Australia reeling at 2-28.
Clarke and Haddin steadied the ship somewhat but Australia lost its way again with the advent of the spinners.
Shahid Afridi was pressed into action at the start of the 14th over and Australia's scoring rate dropped dramatically.
But it was Shoaib Malik who separated the pair, bowling Haddin (26) as the wicketkeeper-batsman moved too far across while attempting to tuck one down to third man.
Andrew Symonds, who had survived a good shout for leg before on only the second ball he faced, was eventually snared by Afridi for only six and Clarke fell while attempting to force the pace while the batting powerplay was in progress.
Clarke had put on 54 for the fifth wicket with Callum Ferguson, who carried on briefly after his skipper's departure, while Nathan Hauritz got Australia close to the 200-run mark with an unbeaten 19 off only 18 deliveries.
Gul finished the top wicket-taker with 3-38 from eight.
Pakistan made a good start to its reply, with Salman Butt and Ahmed Shehzad putting on 95 for the first wicket and seemingly putting their side on course for victory.
But Butt's wicket, two short of a half-century, proved the turning point, the opener edging Hauritz to first slip.
Khan went for a duck the next ball before Misbah-ul-Haq became Clarke's first victim.
The same bowler then snared Shehzad for 40 while Afridi (6), Kamran Akmal (8), Yasir Arafat (3) and Tanvir (11) all went cheaply.
Malik chipped in with a useful 30 but, when he was run out, the game was up, and Gul quickly became the last man out with nearly three overs left.
Andrew Symonds rewarded the faith of the Australian selectors as he led his side to a six-wicket victory over Pakistan in the second one-day international in Dubai.
His two wickets for 12 runs helped finish off the Pakistan tail as it made 207, and his brisk half-century carried Australia almost all the way in reaching its target with 29 balls to spare.
After Brad Haddin went for eight, Shane Watson's 30 and 48 from James Hopes had helped Australia build a solid platform, but Pakistan dismissed the pair within the space of three balls to leave the tourists in a more nervous position at 3-93 when Symonds strode to the crease.
He took a while to play himself in, but after the offer of a free hit against Shoaib Malik was smashed for his first four in the 29th over, Symonds began to express himself a little more and hit Saeed Ajmal for six in the next over.
By the time he was bowled by Shahid Afridi for 58 off 62 balls, the damage had been done with Australia well ahead of the run rate and only 25 runs from its target.
Michael Clarke's unbeaten 39 and 10 from Callum Ferguson saw it home.
Earlier, Pakistan had scratched its way to a competitive total mainly thanks to opener Salman Butt and his laborious 57.
Shahid Afridi slammed 41 off 40 deliveries, but his dismissal while the batting powerplay was in progress left Pakistan's tail exposed in the final overs.
Shoaib Akhtar, however, threw his bat around and landed some lusty blows en route to 25 off 14 deliveries as Pakistan breached the 200-run mark.
That target looked unlikely at the start when debutant opener Ahmed Shehzad was run out with five runs on the board.
Shehzad turned a delivery from Nathan Bracken to square leg and set off for a single. Butt at first responded and was almost halfway down the pitch when he turned back while Shehzad continued with the run.
Clarke swooped on the ball and fired in a return to wicketkeeper Haddin, who whipped off the bails at the striking end. Umpire Billy Bowden adjudged Shehzad as the batsman out.
Butt rebuilt the innings in the company of skipper Younus Khan (28), who looked in fine touch. The two added 53 for the second wicket.
Younus, who survived a run-out attempt on one, was out edging the first ball from Ben Laughlin to Haddin.
Nathan Hauritz then claimed three wickets in quick succession as Pakistan wobbled, ending with figures of three for 41, while debutant Doug Bollinger turned in an economical spell conceding 26 in his 10 overs.
Shahid Afridi claimed six victims to pave the way for Pakistan to claim victory by four wickets in its opening one-day international against Australia in Dubai.
The Pakistan all-rounder claimed career-best figures of 6-38 as Australia could only manage 168 in an innings that lasted just 38.5 overs.
The world champions again lost their way in the middle overs, losing 8-27 at one stage as they wilted against Afridi's spin.
It could have been worse for the Australians who relied on a last-wicket stand of 46 runs between James Hopes (48 not out) and Ben Hilfenhaus (four) to give their score some respectability.
Pakistan's reply, while slow going at times, always looked on track with Kamran Akmal hitting 48 at the top of the order before Misbah-ul-Haq anchored the innings with an unbeaten 30 from 68 balls.
A near-capacity crowd filled the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium as the venue hosted international cricket for the first time.
The postponed series, which was originally due to be played last year, had been moved from Pakistan to neutral turf because the Australian team harboured security concerns about touring the strife-torn nation.
That meant this series came after its 3-2 series defeat to South Africa, when Australia's middle order had shown weakness against spin.
That again proved to be the case on Wednesday after openers Brad Haddin and Shaun Marsh had got it off to a solid start. They added 41 in nine overs before Marsh, who re-injured the hamstring injury that kept him out of the South Africa series, was run out for 16.
Haddin, who was dropped by Shoaib Akhtar while on 38, although the chance was a difficult one, was joined by Shane Watson and the pair put Australia back on top with a 54-run stand for the second wicket.
Watson played the dominant hand, blasting two fours and a six while racing along at better than a run a ball.
All that ended when Pakistan captain Younus Khan brought his spinners on.
Afridi made the breakthrough in his fifth over, inducing an expansive drive from Haddin (40) which was snapped up by Younus at short cover.
That prompted Australia's stunning collapse with off-spinner Saeed Ajmal (two for 19) also getting in on the act.
Ajmal snared stand-in Australia skipper Michael Clarke (four) cheaply, while Afridi picked up the wicket of Watson (40) - bowled while playing down the wrong line - in his next over.
Andrew Symonds (two) offered little on his return to the team after spending nine months on the sidelines.
Callum Ferguson (two), Nathan Bracken (one) and Stuart Clark (two) followed in quick succession as Australia slipped from 2-95 to 9-122.
Hopes revived the innings at the end, but Gul ended it, clean bowling Hilfenhaus.
The early end to Australia's innings meant Pakistan was forced to bat for seven overs before the interval and lost Salman Butt for five when Hilfenhaus trapped him lbw.
Kamran and Younus avoided any further damage before the break to steer Pakistan to 1-25.
Younus (11) fell soon after the re-start when he was frustrated into playing a cross-bat shot off Hopes which he mis-timed to Bracken at mid-off.
Kamran, however, kept the scoreboard ticking over and had closed to within two runs of a deserved half-century when Stuart Clark had him caught behind by Haddin.
Australia showed signs of a fightback when it then had Shoaib Malik (24) caught by Haddin off Hopes shortly after, to leave Pakistan on 4-99.
But Pakistan got the steadying innings it needed from Misbah.
With Afridi adding a quickfire 24, Misbah was content to play a patient a role, eventually guiding his team home with 5.5 overs to spare.
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