Pakistan will take on Australia in the second Test match in Melbourne on December 26 and it will be extremely important for Shan Masood and Co after they lost the first match of the series by 360 runs. The Pakistani cricketers reached the venue a few days before the match and took part in strenuous practice sessions. However, there was a heart-warming moment after one of the practice sessions when former skipper Babar Azam interacted with the fans present in the stadium. A female fan asked for Babar's hat while he was signing autographs, but the star player politely denied her request when he told her that he only has one hat and he can't give it to her.
Earlier, Nathan Lyon took his 500th Test wicket Sunday as Australia dismissed a rattling Pakistan for just 89 to register a thumping 360-run win in the opening Test in Perth.
Pakistan's unlikely bid to win Australia's first Test since 1995 was dashed by the home side's spin king and formidable pace attack, which wrapped up the match in four days.
Chasing 450 for victory, the visitors meekly succumbed, with Lyon winning 2-14. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood both took three wickets each.
“Great start to the summer, everything fell into place. We've been playing a lot of cricket so the build-up has been very relaxed and relaxed,” said Australian captain Pat Cummins. “No hiccups this week, it all went according to plan.
Fan – Bhai mujhe aapki hat chahiye (bro, I want your hat)
Babar – Mere paas bhi ek hi hai (I have only one)
— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) December 21, 2023
“500 Test wickets around the world is huge,” he added about Lyon. “I couldn't be happier for him.”
After being stranded on 499 after Pakistan's first innings, Lyon finally reached the milestone when he trapped Faheem Ashraf lbw, but there was an agonizing wait as the review began.
He then bowled Aamer Jamal in the same over and joined an elite club of just seven others, including fellow spinners Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka and Australia's Shane Warne.
“Great feeling to get 500 wickets,” said Lyon. “I haven't taken anything for granted, especially playing for Australia, and I appreciate every moment of my career.”
Australia declared at 233-5 on day four after Pakistan were dismissed for 271 in their first innings, in reply to the hosts' 487.
Cummins made the call after opener Usman Khawaja was out for a brave 90 on a deteriorating delivery after a 126-run partnership with Mitchell Marsh.
Marsh remained unbeaten on 63 after Pakistan removed Steve Smith and Travis Head early in the day to give themselves hope.
Faced with a tough chase, they got off to a horror start with Abdullah Shafique bowling out two in the first over, stealing an unplayable Starc ball to Alex Carey behind the stumps.
Captain Shan Masood, in charge in his first Test, could not last much longer and moved on to Carey at Hazlewood and left his team in trouble at 17-2.
Starc was also responsible for Imam-ul-Haq before Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel offered any resistance.
But that crumbled when Azam got ahead of Cummins on 14, with Carey conceding again.
When they returned from tea, Sarfaraz Ahmed lasted only six balls before he was caught in the gully off Starc, and Agha Salman was run out.
Lyon then worked his magic before Hazlewood cleared.
“We could have batted a little faster, missed 60-70 runs,” Masood said.
“In terms of bowling, I thought we did a lot of good things. Not as disciplined as we wanted to be, that's the lesson of the Australian attack.”
(With AFP inputs)
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