Twitter Reactions: Australia rout Pakistan for an innings victory at the MCG

The Boxing Day Test at the MCG had a lot of excitement around it after Pakistan came agonisingly close to victory in the first Test at the Gabba. But Australia absolutely turned things over in the second match to win the game by an innings and 18 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Misbah-ul-Haq had won the toss and decided to bat first. They wanted to put up a big score on the board and put pressure on the Aussies who were supposed to bat last.

The plan went well when opener Azhar Ali scored a magnificent double century, his third in the year and that coupled with coupled with half centuries from Asad Shafiq and Sohail Khan in the lower order took Pakistan to 443/9 in the first innings. For Australia Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird took three wickets each while Mitchell Stac and Nathan Lyon shared one each.

They needed to reply strong, the total the Pakistani team had posted could’ve put them in a fix but opener David Warner was up for the task. He kicked things off in a dashing manner and had a crucial partnership with Usman Khawaja. Warner went on to register his 17th Test century, Khawaja, unfortunately, fell 3 short of a well deserved hundred.

Skipper Smith then took control of the proceedings and powered the Aussies not just beyond the first innings target but well over 600 with valuable contributions from Peter Handscomb and Stac who scored 54 and 84 respectively. Smith got yet another 150+ score and at the time he decided to declare the innings with the team score of 624 he was unbeaten on 165.

Having conceded a first innings lead of 181, Pakistan had to bat with a lot of character in the second inning. They just needed a mindset of getting the runs and not blocking their way to a draw. But they slumped. The Aussie bowlers were all over them once they had the opening which was quite early in the only second over of the inning.

It was Starc this time who dealt them 4 blows while Lyon also kicked in to clear three straight batsmen in the Pakistani middle-order. While they had just a few overs to play out and less than 20 runs of deficit Yasir Shah tried to tick a Starc delivery on the on-side but it went in the air and was gleefully pocketed by Bird to complete an emphatic win for the Aussies.

Here is how Twitter reacted to Australia’s series win:

That's one of the best Test wins you will ever see! #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/Ehj6yypMFq

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) December 30, 2016

If you expect nothing from Pakistan, they'll win.
If you expect something from Pakistan, they disappoint you. #AUSvPAK

— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) December 30, 2016

https://twitter.com/samdwilson/status/814727242727075840

Massive win by the Aussies. A huge congratulations. Pakistan will be extremely disappointed with that batting performance

— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) December 30, 2016

The X factor does it again @mstarc56 how good is he!

— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) December 30, 2016

Misbah says he must "think about" future, including whether he plays in Sydney. Has been contemplating retirement for a long time #AUSvPAK

— Daniel Brettig (@danbrettig) December 30, 2016

Second straight test, something's got to give on Day 5 and one man steps up. The Peerless Starc. Best in the world by some safe distance.

— Gerard Deulofeu Fan (@parth_utters) December 30, 2016

However, the only incident where the team lost the Test by an innings after DECLARING first innings with 400 or more on board. #AUSvPAK https://t.co/V0xtNpMam5

— Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) December 30, 2016

Younis Khan after the 2nd Test ??? #AUSvPAK #PakvAus pic.twitter.com/5P3M8akviV

— S H A H I D ? (@cricket_worm) December 30, 2016

https://twitter.com/OnlyScore/status/814725198934994944

Misbah-ul-Haq cites Aust pressure & poor batting for today's loss. Concedes he's considering future & no guarantee to play at SCG #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/zCmztA4RLJ

— Andrew Ramsey (@ARamseyCricket) December 30, 2016

LOVE.#AUSvPAK | https://t.co/IXovTpZTIQ pic.twitter.com/TKuO5Zqu2L

— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) December 30, 2016

Scored 443 Runs In 1st Inning Still Lost By Inning And 18 Runs.

Jeet Ke Haarne Waale Ko Pakistan Kehte Hain. 😉 #PakvAus #AUSvPAK

— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) December 30, 2016

Experts: Pakistan Should Go For Draw.

Misbah: Don't Underestimate Our Powers. We're Born Losers,We'd Go For The Loss. 😉#AUSvPAK #PakvAus

— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) December 30, 2016

#England – "We scored 400 and still lost by an innings."#Pakistan – "Give us a week" #AUSvPAK @cricbuzz @cricketwallah @bhogleharsha

— Himanshu Ghiya (@himanshughiya_) December 30, 2016

Test cricket finds a way
Remarkable win
Remarkable loss@abcgrandstand #AUSvPAK

— Gerard Whateley (@GerardWhateley) December 30, 2016

In August, thanks to weird rankings, so much was said abt Pakistan's ability to win overseas. Maybe they should learn to draw matches first?

— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) December 30, 2016