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Australia 6 for 0 trail Pakistan 313 (Rizwan 88, Jamal 82, Salman 53, Cummins 5-61, Starc 2-75) by 307 runs
Retiring opener David Warner survived a tricky final over on day one of his farewell Test after Aamer Jamal, coming in at No. 9 completed a gutsy half-century to lead Pakistan’s recovery in Sydney leaving Australia frustrated.
Jamal’s 82 off 97 balls and his last wicket partnership of 86 with Mir Hamza lifted Pakistan to an unlikely first innings of 313 after Pat Cummins claimed his third straight five-wicket haul.
Australia openers Warner and Usman Khawaja were then left with having to face one over before stumps. In his 112th and final Test match, Warner received a standing ovation from the 33,905 crowd at the SCG and a guard of honour from the Pakistan team.
Warner hit offspinner Sajid Khan for a four through covers first ball but had an anxious moment when he almost played the ball onto his stumps as Australia went into stumps at 6 for 0 still trailing Pakistan by 307 runs.
Earlier, Pakistan had seemingly failed to make the most of winning an important toss from captain Shan Masood in favourable conditions as they crashed to 47 for 4.
But Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman struck attractive half-centuries to engineer a fightback. They both fell amid another flurry of Pakistan wickets either side of tea as batting became more difficult under significant cloud cover.
Pakistan, however, received an unexpected boost when Jamal and Hamza produced the highest tenth-wicket stand against Australia in Tests since England’s Alec Stewart and Andy Caddick combined for 103 in 2001. Jamal took Australia’s increasingly ragged attack apart, while Hamza stonewalled and didn’t score until his 22nd ball faced as they defied Australia superbly for over 90 minutes.
Pakistan’s hopes of a competitive total had seemingly nosedived when Rizwan holed out on 88 just before tea as they succumbed to a short-ball tactic perfectly executed by Cummins and Mitchell Starc. Cummins removed an impatient Sajid, who fell into the trap and hit straight to forward square.
Salman had defied the barrage of short deliveries to reach his second straight half-century before tamely falling to Starc, as Cummins claimed Hasan Ali for a duck and finished with 5 for 61 off 18 overs.
After their painful 79-run defeat in the Boxing Day Test, having fought bravely and at times appearing close to causing an upset, Pakistan started the new year with both their openers making ducks within the first eight deliveries of the match.
Starc found sharp swing and on the second delivery of the innings he removed opener Abdullah Shafique, who drove loosely and produced a thick outside edge to second slip. It was a severe initiation for debutant Saim Ayub, who had hoped to spark the top order after replacing Imam-ul-Haq. But on his second delivery, Ayub could do little against a superb length delivery from quick Josh Hazlewood and he nicked off.
The pressure fell on Babar Azam, who had only made 77 runs in four previous innings and been worked over by Cummins and Hazlewood. He made a watchful start before unfurling his trademark cover drive to the boundary and pounced on an increasingly wayward Starc.
Babar was feeling confident on a sedate surface but confronted Cummins who had dismissed him twice in brilliant fashion in Perth and Melbourne. Cummins added a third when a hooping inswinger trapped Babar, who initially survived before the DRS overturned the decision after ball tracking confirmed the ball was hitting the leg stump.
Cummins added another after drinks when he had struggling No. 5 Saud Shakeel caught behind in a poor dismissal to leave Pakistan in disarray. But Rizwan belted 76 off 72 balls in the second session making his non-selection in the opening Test of the series even more puzzling. He received good support from Salman in a 94-run partnership off 101 balls
With Pakistan wobbling at 75 for 4, Rizwan continued where he left off before lunch as he targeted backward point and scored runs quickly. But Masood was unable to bat proactively as his preference given his team’s predicament. He had been watchful against offspinner Nathan Lyon, who he had numerously charged at in Melbourne, but his bid to play the long haul seemingly ended on 32 when he edged Marsh straight to second slip.
But Marsh’s celebrations were halted when he was found to have delivered a no-ball. Masood could not make him pay and fell almost in the exact same manner shortly after, with Marsh relieved when it was confirmed that he hadn’t overstepped again.
Rizwan had appeared set to become Pakistan’s first centurion of the series, but Australia reverted to short bowling and the tourists crumbled until Jamal and Hamza turned the innings on its head.
Pakistan’s bid for a consolation victory and to snap a 16-Test losing streak in Australia was made harder with spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi rested after a heavy workload in the opening two Tests. He was replaced by specialist spinner Sajid, while Australia again named an unchanged line-up in Warner’s farewell to Test cricket.
Despite the increasingly gloomy conditions, no rain fell on the opening day in a relief with the traditional New Year’s Test severely impacted by bad weather in recent years. But rain and thunderstorms are expected late on day two as Warner takes centre stage.
