AUS v PAK 1st Test, Day 1 Review: Australia take the day with Steve Smith’s century

After a good start and losing a couple of wickets in quick succession Australia looked up to skipper Steve Smith to uphold the inning and show them the direction towards a big score in the first innings. The ball was swinging, the Pakistan pacers and Yasir Shah were in the attack mode but he got in, adapted himself, curbed the instinct to drive and played straight.

He structured his knock against both spinners and the quicks with equal potency and with Peter Handscomb ensured they had clear advantage towards the end of the day. That after, Pakistan made inroads just before the Tea break to almost derail the Australian innings that had start off pretty smooth with David Warner and Matt Renshaw. The visitors dropped catches and gave lives to the Aussie batsmen in charity which further helped their cause as they managed 288/3 on day 1.

The pink ball was making its debut at Gabba in Brisbane and Steve Smith having decided to bat first indirectly handed it to the Pakistani pace trio. Mohammad Amir started the proceedings and he swung the ball so did Rahat Ali but didn’t find a breakthrough with the new ball. Warner and Renshaw were cautious along with the fact that Pakistan opted for a line that was too wide outside the off-stump and the batsmen didn’t really had to play at it.

Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq possibly wanted to dry down the runs for Warner and force him to do something different. But with both his frontline bowlers going wicket-less he had to bring in leg-spinner Yasir Shah as early as the 11th over of the game, Wahab Riaz bowled in tandem with him. The Australian openers had them placed well at 70 for no loss in 23 overs. Misbah then had to go back to Amir and he finally struck.

He bowled the outside off-stump line and then brought one back in to trap David Warner lbw. It was a close call but umpire Ian Gould raised his finger, Warner didn’t take a review and replays suggested it would have clipped the leg-stump. Usman Khawaja walked in at 3 but was sent back in the very next over. He hit a Yasir Shah delivery straight to Misbah at short midwicket. Pakistan went into Tea 2 down for 89.

They came back well after the break. Renshaw scored his fifty and Smith got himself in. Just when they would have wanted to swiftly gain the momentum Wahab bowled one that angled into the left-hander but straightened after pitching and moved just enough to take the outside edge. Renshaw who looked good for a hundred was dismissed on 71.

It was yet another crucial juncture in the game 43.2 overs of play had been completed Australia had 151 runs in their account and they had lost the top 3 batsmen. Smith had his eye in by that time and had judged the bounce on the Gabba wicket. He had to ensure Handscomb lasted with him for the duration.

The duo knew what they were supposed to do and went about business with a planned approach. They left what was away to fly to the men behind and played just the ones they actually needed to. There was also the favor of luck for Smith when Sarfraz Ahmed dropped him of part-timer Azhar Ali just at the stroke of Dinner. The skipper got to his half century in the mean time; Handscomb and Smith added almost hundred runs together in the session and went for dinner with Australia comfortably placed at 182/3.

Lights were on now and we would watch the pink ball swing under lights for the first time in this Test. Pakistan pacers were charged to inflict damage but they weren’t supported by the fielders. An occasional dropped chance and once they failed to identify an edge. Steve Smith edged one to the keeper, he knew it, Hot Spot confirmed it but none of the Pakistan players even appealed. The last session was full of runs for the Aussies as they added another hundred runs to their total.

Pakistan had opted for the new ball as soon as it was available. Steve Smith had to spend quite some time in the 90s, the ball missed the outside edge of the bat on a number of occasions some brilliant stops in the infield but he hung in there and eventually got there. Rahat Ali bowled well but was unlucky to remain wicketless on the first day. Handscomb also completed 50 and they negotiated the last few overs safely to walk back unbeaten on 110 and 64 respectively.

Brief Scores:

Australia: 288/3 (Steve Smith 110; M Amir 1/40)