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In a frantic morning session on the second day of the
Boxing Day Test, Pakistan’s quicks orchestrated a comeback on the demanding MCG
surface, resulting in Australia being bowled out for 318.
With improved fielding, Pakistan’s new-look attack
chipped away at regular wickets, using swing and movement from the
unpredictable surface.
After Mitchell Marsh and Marnus Labuschagne threatened
to end the match, they were able to stop Australia. However, on a pitch that
facilitates pace bowling, Australia will still feel that they have scored a
respectable first innings total.
After concluding the first day impressively, Australia
resumed at 187 for 3, hoping to establish a daunting total as sunshine broke
through the dense cloud cover.
In the meantime, Pakistan’s hopes of limiting
Australia to 250 runs each game were dashed by their shoddy bowling.
Veteran seamer Hasan Ali impressed on day one, taking
1 for 28 from 14 overs, justifying his reinstatement. However, he got off to a
sloppy start and was twice cut through the off-side by Travis Head in his usual
aggressive manner.
Head naturally looked to counterattack, but
Labuschagne carried on with his cautious batting in difficult conditions on the
opening day. Entering the encounter with an average of barely 35 in Test
cricket this year, plagued by issues from the off stump, Labuschagne appeared
lot more confident on the pitch.
As Australia gained momentum, Labuschagne struck a
boundary past midwicket to reach his half-century. Shaheen Shah Afridi broke
out of his slump with a full and wide delivery that tempted a thick edge from
Head and was superbly collected by Salman Agha at second slip. Pakistan needed
a wicket badly.
After skipping down the wicket to dismissively smash
left-arm quick Mir Hamza over mid-off for a boundary, Marsh’s confidence was
instantly apparent. His contagious enthusiasm brought life to the match, and
when Hasan had him disqualified off two consecutive deliveries, Marsh was able
to successfully review on both instances, causing pandemonium.
Throughout the series thus far, Pakistan’s new ball
bowling has been largely uninspiring, but after taking the second new ball,
they lit a fire under themselves.
Afridi and Hamza turned to the infrequent short
delivery, a strategy that was absent for a significant portion of the innings,
when Afridi dismissed wicketkeeper Alex Carey, with Mohammad Rizwan producing a
stunning catch.
Shortly after, Hamza dismissed Starc, and he added
another wicket when he took Marsh for 41. It was compensation for a recalled
Hazma, who had shown promise by nipping the ball both ways during the innings.
Although the opening session was played in sunny
conditions, Melbourne’s unpredictable weather is predicted to cause disruptions
once more later in the day, including rain and possibly thunderstorms.