Pakistan fall short despite stunning effort led by Asad Shafiq's monumental 137.

By Abdullah Ansari (19th 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 began the early session confidently and grew into it with Australia visibly nervous. Yasir was confident while Shafiq continued to play some superb strokes. Hazlewood and Starc bowled long spells at the start but there was no breakthrough with barely a chance for the home side. The first-change bowlers came on to bowl, Bird and Lyon but Smith clearly didn't have confidence in them as Starc was soon brought back. The nerves increased as Pakistan kept taking the game deeper into Day 5. Yasir gave a chance to Lyon with a drive but it was just away from him while he was given out two balls later, but the decision was overturned on review. The ball started reversing a bit as the batsmen looked more nervy but Shafiq continued putting the bad balls away as he reached his highest Test score. With the partnership at 71, Starc stuck the decisive blow with a big bouncer that Shafiq could only lob into the air as he was dismissed for a stunning 137. Yasir was the last man to fall in an anti-climax as he was run out by Smith with Australia squeaking home by 39 runs.

Summary: An epic game of cricket. Pakistan can hold their heads high - they have given Australian a shock for the ages after having performed limply on previous tours. Melbourne and Sydney should yield two very absorbing Test matches.

Fall of wickets:

9-449 (Asad Shafiq, 144.2 ov)
10-450 (Yasir Shah, 144.6 ov)

Discuss!