Pakistan 97/8 in response to Australia's 429 with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood taking three wickets apiece for the hosts.

By Abdullah Ansari (16th December, 2016)

Toss: Australia won the toss, Steve Smith opted to bat first.

Teams

Australia: MT Renshaw, DA Warner, UT Khawaja, SPD Smith (c), PSP Handscomb, NJ Maddinson, MS Wade (wk), MA Starc, JR Hazlewood, NM Lyon, JM Bird.

Pakistan: Sami Aslam, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Amir, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali.

Pakistan started the day well, bowling tight lines. The 5th over of the day saw a review taken against Smith off Amir's bowling for LBW but the ball had pitched outside the leg-stump. Wahab came on to bowl and tested the batsmen as well, bowling with good pace. Pakistan should have had Smith in the 9th over but he got a third life as he looked to hit a big shot off Yasir - it should have been a simple catch but Amir made a mess of it. It didn't cost them much, however, as Smith went for a wild slash off Wahab's bowling and edged behind, having made 130. Yasir once again suffered due to a drop with Azhar grassing a chance at short leg off Maddinson. Once again, it was Wahab who ensured that the drop wasn't costly as Maddinson tried to put a short of a length delivery to the off-side and was caught behind. Wahab, Amir and Yasir bowled tight spells with Amir striking again as Wade nicked one to Azhar at third slip. Amir soon had his third wicket as Starc nicked one to Shafiq at slip who took a sharp catch. Peter Handscomb got to his maiden Test hundred before the interval with some enterprising shots.

Amir struck again after the break to dismiss Hazlewood as Shafiq took another smart overhead catch at slip. Handscomb also fell to Wahab next as he chopped one onto his stumps after making 105. Wahab and Amir with four wickets apiece bowled in tandem as they tried to get the last wicket and complete their five-fer but Bird and Lyon proved difficult to dislodge. Bird hooked Amir for a clean six and then Lyon got into the act with a few stylish fours. The two put up a 49-run partnership before Yasir finally got another well-deserved wicket to dismiss Lyon with Australia bowled out for 429.

Pakistan negotiated the first four overs without any damage but Starc struck in the next one as Azhar edged one to the slip cordon where Khawaja took an excellent low catch. Sami was hit on the helmet a couple of times but was unperturbed as Pakistan went to dinner at 20/1 after 10 overs.

Starc and Lyon resumed after the interval with the off-spinner getting turn and bounce, making life difficult for Sami and Babar. The two batsmen made it through another few overs until Hazlewood returned. Babar went for an extravagant drive off the right-armer and edged it to slip with the extra bounce proving problematic, while Younis didn't hang around as he went for a first ball duck, edging a good delivery behind to the wicket-keeper. Sami continued fighting while Misbah looked to be more positive than usual but it was to no avail. The captain went for a drive to an away-swinger by Bird and edged it to slip for a comfortable catch. Shafiq didn't last for long either as he had a waft at one outside off and edged another for Khawaja at slip. Bird then brought Sami's fight to an end as he tickled one down the leg-side after having made 22 off 100 deliveries. Wahab was next as he played across the line and got a leading edge, offering a simple return catch to Hazlewood. Starc's pace was too much for Yasir who edged a fast delivery to the slips. Sarfraz briefly counter-attacked, surviving a late stumping chance while Amir held up one end as the two put on a 30-run partnership to drag Pakistan to 97/8 at Stumps, still 332 runs behind.

Summary: Not much to be said about yet another pathetic batting performance by Pakistan. The bowlers, to their credit, did well to reduce Australia to 380/9 from 323/3 but the last-wicket partnership of 49 dampened the good effort, while there was almost nothing positive from the Pakistan innings barring a 37-run partnership between Sami Aslam and Babar Azam and then Sarfraz Ahmed's unbeaten 31. It will take nothing short of a miracle for Pakistan to survive a loss at the fortress of Gabba. The team management needs to rethink the batting line-up and strategy - they are going nowhere at the moment by allowing Australia to bowl at them and build pressure.

Fall of wickets:

4-323 (Smith, 99.4 ov)
5-334 (Maddinson, 103.3 ov)
6-342 (Wade, 109.4 ov)
7-354 (Starc, 111.5 ov)
8-380 (Hazlewood, 118.6 ov)
9-380 (Handscomb, 119.1 ov)
10-429 (Lyon, 130.1 ov)

1-6 (Azhar Ali, 4.1 ov)
2-43 (Babar Azam, 19.4 ov)
3-43 (Younis Khan, 19.5 ov)
4-48 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 26.5 ov)
5-54 (Asad Shafiq, 28.3 ov)
6-56 (Sami Aslam, 29.4 ov)
7-66 (Wahab Riaz, 33.5 ov)
8-67 (Yasir Shah, 34.1 ov)

Discuss!