Internet Desk: Australia so nearly stole defeat from the jaws of victory at the Gabba, but nonetheless will arrive at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground for the Boxing Day Test with a 1-0 series lead, looking to make it two and unassailable against a struggling Pakistan outfit.
Australia absolutely dominated the first innings of the second pink ball Test of the summer in Brisbane and were well and truly cruising during the second innings before the tourists mounted some resistance with their batting.
Chasing what seemed like a ridiculous and impossible 490 for the victory, Pakistan, for the first time in the match showed a little bit of fight, getting all the way to 450 with a monumental effort from Asad Shafiq and the tail.
That came after Australia had taken a massive lead out of the first innings thanks to centuries from captain Steve Smith and second Test rookie Peter Handscomb.
Along with young opener Matt Renshaw, who made 71 the pair guided Australia to 429 in their first innings, which looked at one point like it should have been a lot more given they were 4 for 323 when Smith got out.
Mohammad Amir, who at the end of the first day’s play looked to have done a knee injury took four wickets, but the pick of the bowlers was Wahab Riaz who also had four, but bowled with consistency and looked dangerous every time he ran in.
In reply, the Pakistan top order absolutely crumbled under the pressure from Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird, who all picked up three wickets each, the tourists making just 142.
Sarfraz Ahmed showed the only sign of resistance for a Pakistan side who were already coming off a crushing defeat in New Zealand, the wicket-keeper making a hard fought 59.
By that point it was already early on Day 3 and despite only spending 55 overs in the field, Smith elected not to enforce the follow-on, allowing his men to bat again and build on their lead, attempting to bat Pakistan out of the contest.
The move almost seemed to backfire at the end of the Test after Australia made 5 for 202, declaring after just 39 overs at the Tea break.
Australia’s aim, of course was to bowl at Pakistan during the night session with lights on and reduce their top order once again to nothing.
Instead, Azhar Ali led the resistance, making 41 not out by the end of Day 3 and having Pakistan at a dangerous, but still reasonable 2 for 70.
No one could have foreseen what played out on Day 4 though as Ali himself made 71 before Younis Khan added 65 to the total, ensuring the top order wouldn’t be knocked over cheaply.
Shafiq then went on to score 137, batting with the tail, who apart from Rahat Ali all made it past 30 with the score edging closer all the time.
Yasir Shah, who had limited impact with the ball throughout the match made a highest ever score of 33, but just couldn’t get his side over the line as he got comically ran out by Smith to end the match.
While the margin of victory – just 40 runs – doesn’t show Australia’s dominance throughout the match, it does show Pakistan have it in them to bat for long periods of time and tough it out, so one would expect them to put up a much larger fight in Melbourne.