Dangerman Mitchell Marsh was eliminated. During Saturday’s first Test in Perth, Pakistan had a mini-collapse, with Babar Azam and Nathan Lyon taking his 498th wicket in Tests. Despite having Agha Salman on four and Saud Shakeel not out on twelve, the visitors were still 284 runs down as lunchtime rolled around on the third day. Australia wins after Pakistan loses Babar, Imam quickly. After laying a strong groundwork in pursuit of the host team’s first innings 487, they started on 132-2, but they couldn’t withstand Australia’s first-class assault.
Australia wins after Pakistan loses Babar, Imam quickly
The departure of skipper Shan Masood just before stumps on Friday meant that nightwatchman Khurram Shahzad was on seven runs, and stalwart opener Imam-ul-Haq was on 38. In his debut, Shahzad just faced two balls before Pat Cummins bowled a full, straight delivery that removed his middle stump in the first over. As a result, Azam batted cautiously for 13 balls in his 50th Test before getting off the mark with a cover drive to the ropes off Pat Cummins.
Defending himself patiently against a seam attack, he found the pace bounced on a sun-baked pitch and hit another in Cummins’ next over to keep the clock ticking. On the other side, Haq kept chipping away and reached fifty for the ninth time in Tests—his first in Australia—with a single from Lyon off a glacial 161 balls. However, scores were few, and Marsh’s introduction had an instant effect, dismissing Azam for 21 runs after the former captain got an edge that wicketkeeper Alex Carey recovered.
Carey whipped off the bails as Lyon re-entered the attack, sprinting down the wicket but missing due to a lack of concentration, resulting in Haq being stumped for 62. This caused a mini-collapse. Mitchell Starc’s swinging delivery sent the stumps flying, causing Sarfaraz Ahmed (3) to last just six balls. Test victories for Pakistan in Australia have eluded them since 1995.
