LAHORE: The first day of the deciding test cricket match between Pakistan and Australia witnessed some absorbing batting performances and exhilarating bowling display at the Gaddafi stadium which also marked return of test match cricket to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) headquarters after a gap of 13 years.
If Pakistan’s ace fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi drew first blood in his opening spell to get the better of David Warner 8 (13) and Marnus Labuschagne 0 (2), Australia’s ‘man of steel’ Usman Khawaja and prolific Steven Smith put up some steely defiance to notch up a 138 run partnership to save their team from blushes after they were precariously placed at 8-2 in the third over of the Australian inning.
Usman Khawaja has emerged as the most reliable test batter for Australia over the past few months and has so far scored 392 runs against Pakistan in four innings of the three test matches comprising one 100 and two 50s.
He played yet another innings of character when the team needed him the most and braced the some nasty warm weather during his almost five hour stay at the crease. Khawaja’s 91 run innings had class written all over it and he played majestically.
Steven Smith, for his part, played a reliable innings when Australia needed him the most with the test series at stake and did not disappoint.
Smith started at a brisk rate but tuned his innings to the need of the hour as the Lahore weather also tested mettle and temperament of the players on a day when the mercury stayed around 34 degree Celsius during the day.
Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith got together at the fall of Marnus Labuschagne 0 (2) with the score at 8-2 and the pair gleaned runs industriously on a warm spring afternoon on yet another sluggish Gaddafi stadium pitch which lacked bounce and pace.
David Warner could score 7 (13) and fell to a peach of ball from Shaheen. Lack of bounce forced the Australian duo to adopt caution in order to build a good partnership and they were successful in building a par score.
A third-wicket partnership of 138 runs for the third wicket between Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith ensured that Australia post a respectable total of 232-5 with the hope that Alex Carey and Cameron Green can build on the good work.
The morning and post-lunch sessions saw the batsmen toil for runs as the Australian batters accumulated 70 and 74 runs in the morning and post-lunch sessions respectively while 24 and 30 overs were bowled by the bowlers on a comparatively warmer day.
Some 88 runs were scored in 34 overs during the post-tea break session which defined how deftly Pakistani bowlers bowled during the day.
Naseem Shah, who played his maiden test match against Australia during the Brisbane test match in 2019, bowled one of the most memorable bowling spells of his short career and alighted the Gaddafi stadium through his sizzling hot performance on an already hotter day.
He bowled with precision and pace and his persistence won him one of the most coveted wickets of Steven Smith when he trapped the master batter lbw with a fast and swinging delivery.
Steven Smith narrowly missed the honor of becoming the fastest to 8000 test match runs in international cricket when he got out on 59 (169) in 149 innings.
He still can reach he milestone in the second innings of this test match with 7 runs need to surpass Sri Lankan batting maestro Kumar Sangakara’s record of the fastest to 8000 in 152 innings. Steven Smith has so far scored 7993 runs in 149 innings.
On a historic day when test cricket returned to the Pakistan Cricket Board headquarters after a gap of 13 long years, Australian Captain Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat first.
Cricket in Pakistan had to spend a decade in wilderness due to a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers when the team bus came under attack on the morning of the third-day of the 2nd test match Between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Gaddafi stadium on March 3, 2009.
It was after 28 years that Australia played a test match at Gaddafi stadium although both the team had met at adopted home of Pakistan cricket team in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the past 13 years.
Australia entered the deciding test match unchanged and played the same eleven which had played the second Karachi test while Pakistan had picked Naseem Shah at the expense of all-rounder Faheem Ashraf to bolster the fast bowling department.
Naseem Shah justified his selection and bowled with venom and speed to claim prized scalp of Steven Smith.
The Australian batsmen enjoyed moments of luck as Steve Smith and Travis Head were dropped by Nauman Ali and Sajid Khan off their own bowling. Usman Khawaja had a close shave when he edged the ball in the slips to fall little short of the lone slip fielder Babar Azam off Nauman Ali’s first over.
Usman Khawaja was second time unlucky in the test series when he was fell playing against the spin off Sajid Khan and was caught in the slips by Babar Azam. Khawaja also fell four runs shy of a century in the first test of the series in Rawalpindi.
Babar’s reflex catch off Sajid Khan to dismiss Usman Khawaja may prove a turning point in the match but Head and Green hold the key to the result on the second morning of the test match.
Travis Head and Cameron Green spent some torrid time towards the close of the day as they had to face quality spin and fast bowling from the Pakistan bowlers. Travis Head’s resistance ended when he edged an in-swinging ball from Nasim Shah to the gloves of wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan. He scored 26 (70).
Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi were pick of the bowlers who claimed two wickets each and conceded 34 and 39 runs off 19 and 15 overs while Sajid Khan picked one wicket for 65 runs from his 25 overs. Nauman Ali and Hasan Ali were unsuccessful bowlers on the first day of the test match.
Wicket-keeper batsman Alex Carey 8 (15) and all-rounder Green 20 (48) played patiently in a partnership of 26 runs off the last seven overs towards the end of the day to ensure Australia lose no more wickets on the day.
Both the batsmen saw four overs off with the new ball as the day was called of two overs before the scheduled 90 overs of the day. Australia will resume their innings at 232-5 on the second morning on Tuesday (tomorrow).
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