Melbourne : In the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Tuesday, Australia’s batters overcame some difficult situations against a potent Pakistani bowling attack to reach 187/3 in 66 overs on a rain-plagued day.
A score sheet that revealed all three of Australia’s top-order batsmen, David Warner (38), Usman Khawaja (42) and Steve Smith (26), made starts but were all unable to reach a half-century, demonstrated the struggle faced by batters.
Warner and Khawaja, the opening wicket partnership, put on 90 runs on a wet day in Melbourne to set the tone for their team.
They lost their way a bit and recovered as the first day ended at 187/3, a score that would satisfy both the teams — Australia, who won the first Test to 360 runs, happy that they are in a position from which they can post a big score on the second day.
Marnus Labuschagne was batting on 44 off 120 balls while Travis Head kept him company on 9 off 19 balls.
Labuschagne survived almost three hours at the crease, plus the mid-afternoon rain break that cost around 90 minutes of playing time, to end the day in sight of a hard-earned half-century.
He was on 14 from 47 balls when the downpour hit an hour after lunch. He then withstood some quality seam bowling throughout his stay that did not yield a boundary until the 76th delivery he faced.
Prior to the first rain break, Smith and Labuschagne had laboured for almost 10 overs to chisel out six runs and Smith might have perished soon after the resumption if Babar Azam had been able to pluck a scorching, low-chance diving to his right at extra cover when the prolific batter was on 10.
On 19, Smith was given another reprieve when umpire Michael Gough declared him leg before wicket (LBW). However, the former captain’s instant review, which supported his belief that Shaheen’s delivery was bouncing over the leg stump, reversed the decision.
The 34-year-old’s luck, however, was finally dashed in the next over when Pakistan opted to review a failed attempt at a catch behind the wicket, with technology verifying the smallest edge and sending Smith off for 26.
The second over of spearhead Shaheen Afridi saw Warner anchored to the crease and fending as the full ball shaped perfectly away, the resulting edge flying at knee height to first slip. This gave Pakistan’s four-pronged pace attack a good start.
But Abdullah Shafique could not pouch the catch.
However, Warner and Khawaja survived some difficult conditions and testing deliveries as they struggled to find fluency and
Warner’s struggle was best illustrated by his attempted reprise of the audacious crouching lap shot he unfurled in Perth, but the lower bounce and slower pace of the MCG pitch meant instead of clearing the fine leg fence, it instead dribbled from the toe of his bat through mid-wicket.
His 90-run opening stand with Khawaja proved an invaluable foundation as the weather closed in during the afternoon session, and batting became increasingly problematic as the light dramatically deteriorated.
After the break, Khawaja added just six runs to his lunch score from the 21 balls he faced, but he also failed in his attempt to increase the scoring rate. Khawaja appeared destined for his tenth score of fifty or above in his 23rd innings of 2023.
Midway through Hasan’s outstanding post-lunch display, the left-hander tried a dab to third on a delivery that was pitched too close and bounced more than he anticipated, causing the catch he gave to second slip to resemble the fielding coaches’ pre-game drills.
With the MCG floodlights blazing and severe weather warnings flashing from the ground’s electronic scoreboards, Hasan and Shaheen relentlessly pressed for a follow-up breakthrough over the next forty minutes as the ball started to swing beneath the dense cloud cover.
Despite playing and missing several times and demonstrably showing their frustration at the difficulties they faced in combating the moving ball in the gathering gloom, Smith and Labuschagne remained unbeaten when the rain first arrived with Australia 114/2. They took the score past the 150 score before Smith perished, edging back to Mohd Rizwan off Aamer Jamal.
Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head then kept them in the hunt.
Brief scores:
Australia 187/3 in 66 overs (David Warner 38, Usman Khawaja 42, Marnus Labuschagne batting 44; Hasan Ali 1-28, Aamer Jamal 1-47, Agha Salman 1-5) against Pakistan.
Read More
Gavaskar Expects “Lot of Runs” by Indians Against Proteas Bowlers
