Aaron Finch was again the talisman for Australia as they clinched the ODI series against Pakistan with a comfortable win in Abu Dhabi.

Finch hit centuries in each of Australia's victories in Sharjah and, though he did not reach three figures on this occasion, it was the captain who once more made the key contribution.

The opener laid the foundation for Australia, hitting 90 off 136 balls and forming a third-wicket stand of 84 with Peter Handscomb.

Glenn Maxwell added 71 from 55 balls as Australia finished on 266-6, before Pat Cummins took 3-24 to help seal an 80-run win and an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-game series.

Usman Khawaja scored 88 in the previous match but was cleaned up for a six-ball duck by Usman Shinwari as Pakistan made a promising start, with Shaun Marsh soon following him to leave Australia on 20-2.

However, Handscomb, who hit Mohammad Hasnain for four boundaries in the ninth over, and Finch more than steadied the ship and the latter brought up his half-century from 82 balls with a two off Imad Wasim.

He upped the pace after securing his fifty but was denied a third successive ton when he holed out to long-on to become Yasir Shah's sole wicket.

Maxwell was typically aggressive and smacked eight fours and a six, though a run out denied him the opportunity to press further on the accelerator in the final two overs.

Yet 266 proved more than enough, Pakistan slumping to 16-3 after just seven overs as Shan Masood (2), Haris Sohail (1) and Mohammed Rizwan (0) all fell to Cummins.

Imam-ul-Haq (46) provided some solidity to the Pakistan innings but Maxwell was influential again, trapping the opener lbw.

The middle order proved much more difficult to remove than the top but the designated hosts' response never looked like a match-winning one and their hopes of salvaging a victory effectively went when Jason Behrendorff ended a stand of 53 between Imad (43) and Umar Akmal (36) by removing the latter.

From there the tail folded quickly against the spin of Adam Zampa (4-43), who wrapped up a result that condemns Pakistan to their first bilateral ODI series defeat in the United Arab Emirates since 2015.