AUS v PAK 3rd Test, Day 4 Review: Pakistan need 410 while Australia need 9

While the brilliance of Younis Khan was just being absorbed, lauded and enjoyed David Warner almost stole his thunder with a stupendous knock. Younis had just walked back unbeaten after scoring 175 but Warner’s 55 earned him the second standing ovation from the SCG crowd in the game. A session in the day was already wasted – washed out by rain and Australia were eager to get some quick runs and put back the Pakistani’s in the line of fire.

Younis resumed the day with Yasir Shah and the duo defied the Aussie bowlers for the first hour of play. Steve Smith had to bring in his pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood to clean up the tail that was starting to bother them. Hazlewood first ended Shah’s 42-ball stay having him caught by Smith and then bowled Imran Khan for a duck with a reverse swinging delivery. He finished a brilliant spell with four wickets to his name.

All this while the veteran who had achieved the rare feat of becoming the first batsman to score a Test century in all the 11 nations that host Test cricket was standing there wondering what more could they do. He had batted for 334 balls, put 17 balls through to the boundary ropes and three over them. He scored more than 50% of the team’s runs and they still they were 355 runs short of the first innings total.

Australia opened with a different pair from the first innings; Matt Renshaw who had scored a magnificent and a career setting knock of 184 in the previous knock had been hit on the helmet twice while fielding and had symptoms of concussion. He couldn’t bat in that condition and it was the No.3 Usman Khawaja who walked out to entertain the crowd.

The intention was clear from the Aussies; they wanted to add as many runs as possible in the least number of overs they could consume. And when this is the ask who better than David Warner to set things rolling? He was off to a flier and disbursed the Pakistani bowlers all round the ground. When skipper Misbah-ul-Haq brought in Yasir Shah to slow things down Warner relished the change. He hit the leggie for 23 runs in one over on his way to his half century.

Had Warner continued with his strike rate of 203 he could have not only dashed the fastest Test century record but Australia could have well declared 10 overs before they eventually did. Khawaja though couldn’t match his partner shot for shot also played well and remained unbeaten for 79 from 98 with five fours and a six. Steve Smith who walked out after Warner was dismissed for 55 off 27 – 8 fours and 3 sixes also played an ODI knock.

The 103-run Khawaja-Smith partnership set them up well as both the batsmen got to their half centuries with the skipper going faster than run a ball. He was dismissed for 59 from 43 by Yasir when the third umpire found a faint feather on his glove as the ball passed through. Peter Handscomb who has earned himself quite a reputation in this series was game again. Understanding the need of the hour he also played his shots from the start and stroked five boundaries in 25 balls for his 40.

Khawaja and Handscomb added 67 runs together for the 3rd wicket and Australia declared at 241/2 in 32 overs with a run rate of 7.53.

Pakistan who had scared to chase down 490 in the first Test were set a similar target this time and 465 will not only challenge them but also tempt them to go for it. Though their start suggested a mixed approach Azhar Ali took his time in the middle while Sharjeel Khan went aggressive. The latter scored 40 off 38 before being caught by David Warner off Nathan Lyon attempting an aerial drive on a fuller delivery. Yasir Shah was sent in as the night watchman by the Pakistani team and he faced off 11 deliveries while Azhar was unbeaten on 11 from 48.

They need 410 runs to win the Test with 9 wickets in hand, while the surface hasn’t quite supported the bowlers; Pakistan being Pakistan will unfold only tomorrow.

Brief Scores:

Australia: 1st innings – 538/8 dec &

2nd innings – 241/2 dec (Usman Khawaja 79*; Wahab Riaz 1/28)

Pakistan: 1st innings – 315/10 (Younis Khan 175*; Josh Hazlewood 4/55) &

2nd innings – 55/1 (Sharjeel Khan 40; Nathan Lyon 1/27)