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On a challenging Optus Stadium surface, Australia’s
strong attack destroyed a feeble Pakistan squad, with offspinner Nathan Lyon
claiming his 500th Test wicket. Australia won the opening Test in four days.
With Australia poised for victory in the middle of the
last session, Lyon became the eighth bowler to reach the milestone when he
removed Faheem Ashraf leg before wicket on review, setting off joyous scenes of
celebration among the players and the small but enthusiastic audience of nine
thousand spectators. He became the sole Australian to reach the benchmark,
along with Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.
Later in the over, Lyon completed a triumphant
comeback by clean bowling Aamer Jamal, who had earlier in the series taken five
wickets for the match due to a calf ailment that had forced him out of the
Ashes series. Pakistan collapsed on a track that was spicy all through and got
worse as the match went on, with balls that crawled low and deliveries that
reared, despite only lasting 30.2 overs in their second innings. Australia
declared 30 minutes into the second session, and Pakistan, needing to win by
450 runs, was easily defeated by Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat
Cummins’ outstanding bowling.
They had a difficult mission ahead of them to prevent
losing Australia’s Test match for the fifteenth time in a row, and it went
nearly as planned when Pakistan was destroyed in the first seven overs and
reduced to 17 for 3. When Abdullah Shafique, the opener, poked at a frightening
delivery outside off by Starc in the opening over, he was caught behind.
Compared to Pakistan’s opening innings, Starc bowled with significantly greater
consistency, taking his 200th wicket in a Test match at home.
After driving carelessly, Captain Shan Masood was
caught behind off Hazlewood and dismissed for just two. Even though Masood
scored a brisk thirty in Pakistan’s opening innings, it was a difficult debut
for him as captain; his team was unable to play a proactive form of cricket.
Pakistan’s hopes hinged on their talisman, Babar Azam,
who for nearly 10 overs resisted Australia’s attack. Babar had struck 21 in
Pakistan’s first innings, but he was helpless against a seaming delivery from
Cummins, as he was caught behind on 14.
What remained to be seen was if Pakistan could force a
fifth day of play and whether Lyon would achieve his goal. Pakistan’s prospects
took a tumble when Sarfaraz Ahmed was caught in the slips off Starc, and their
predicament was further exacerbated when Salman Ali Afgha was disastrously run
out following an error by Saud Shakeel. For Pakistan, who were outmatched the
entire Test, it was a relic from the past.