Australia Vs. Pakistan Test Two Recap
Test two at the MCG began on Boxing Day with Australia looking closeout the series in two after their dominant 360-run win in the opening test.
It was damage by committee for the Aussies in their opening innings as they had contributions from many spots in the lineup.
The duo of Warner and Khawaja worked their way to 90 runs before Warner was the first man to fall, ending on 38.
Khawaja kept kicking for another six overs until the 33rd when he too was caught out.
Marnus Labuschagne did the most damage for Australia as he went for 63 runs as part of a couple of partnerships.
Neither Steve Smith nor Travis Head really got themselves going as the former put in just 26 runs while the latter was caught out with just 17.
Mitchell Marsh put up a commendable 41 to stretch the Aussie opening number to 286-8. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey and the bowlers at the end of the lineup went cheaply with Australia finishing at 318.
Looking for 318 to draw level with the Aussies, Pakistan’s batting lacked consistency. Opener Imam-Ul-Haq was caught out on just 10 runs and with Pakistan at 34. His opening partner Abdullah Shafique however put through 62 runs in a quality effort.
Captain Shan Masood also batted well scoring 54 runs while Mohammad Rizwan put in 42 of his own. Pakistan however had five batters finish with under ten runs which ultimately limited their score to 264 as after the opening innings’ Australia was in the driver’s seat.
Australia’s second innings began in an absolute disaster. Khawaja was caught out for a duck in the first over of the innings while his replacement Marnus Labuschagne only made it to over two before being bowled with just four runs.
David Warner didn’t fare much better falling in the fifth with just six runs to his name while immediately after him, Travis Head was bowled for a duck with Australia at 4 for 16.
Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh then came in and calmed everything down. Smith played passively, working his way to a half-century on 176 balls. Marsh was more aggressive. He saved Australia with 96 runs on 130 balls as the partnership took Australia from 16/4 to 169/5 when Marsh was finally caught out.
Alex Carey added a much needed 53 runs of his own as Australia ended on 262.
Pakistan were left to chase 317 and threatened that number with some solid batting.
Their openers went cheaply with Shafique scoring just four runs and Ul-Haq only 12. But their middle order batsmen did some damage.
The partnership of Shan Masood and Babar Azam took Pakistan to 146/4. After this, the next three batters in their lineup went for 24, 35, and 50 respectively. Pakistan at one point sat at 217/6. Three of their final four batters however were out with ducks as they were unable to get to the finish line, ending on 237 as Australia won by 79.
Cummins is Spectacular in Victory
Captain Pat Cummins was the catalyst for this Aussie victory, bowling a magnificent test. He took ten wickets including the all-important seventh and eight wickets for Australia in Pakistan’s second innings.
He essentially put the match away with those two wickets as he was extremely worthy of his man of the match honours.
