With Pakistan losing Imam and Babar so quickly, Australia has emerged victorious. Mitchell Marsh got rid of the threat In the opening Test in Perth on Saturday, Pakistan had a mini-collapse as Babar Azam and Nathan Lyon took their 498th Test wickets.
Day three saw the visitors at 203-6 at lunch, with Agha Salman on four and Saud Shakeel not out at 12. However, they were still 284 runs behind.
After establishing a strong platform by chasing the host team’s first innings 487, they started at 132-2, but they were no match for Australia’s elite attack.
After captain Shan Masood was dismissed just before stumps on Friday, stoic opener Imam-ul-Haq resumed on 38 and nightwatchman Khurram Shahzad on 7.
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In his first over, Pat Cummins took off Shahzad’s middle stump with a full and straight delivery after he had only faced two balls.
This forced Azam to come to the crease for his 50th Test match. He faced 13 balls warily at first but got off to a good start when Cummins hit a cover drive to the ropes.
On a ground scorched by the sun, he found bounce and pace while navigating a seam attack, striking another in Cummins’ next over to keep the scoreboard moving.
Haq, at the other end, kept nibbling away and hit a single from Lyon to bring up his eighth Test fifty, and his first in Australia, off an incredibly slow 161 balls.
It caused a mini-collapse, with Lyon coming back into the attack and Haq being dismissed for 62 as he tried to charge down the wicket but miscuted, allowing Carey to whip out the bails.
Mitchell Starc outlasted Sarfaraz Ahmed (3) for only six balls, his swinging delivery sending the stumps flying. Since 1995, Pakistan has not won a test match in Australia.
