Is this the dumbest run out ever?0:00
Cricket: Azhar Ali thought he had edged a boundary of Peter Siddle, but boy, was he wrong.
PAKISTAN resumed played and despite two early hiccups, went on to build an extraordinary lead over a lacklustre Australian outfit that struggled to stem the bleeding.
The Aussies couldn’t find any way to slow down the scoring onslaught before disaster struck late in the day.
Pakistan 282 & 9/400 declared
Australia 145 & 1/45 (Finch 23, Head 16)
492 runs required to win
Disaster strikes as Aussies crumble
The second Test has been one to forget for Australia and that was solidified on day three as Pakistan completely turned the screws on the Aussies.
Hopes of knocking over the hosts early picked up when Nathan Lyon collected the wicket of Haris Sohail after luring the batsmen into advancing down the wicket.
The horror brain fade left Pakistan at 4/160 with a lead of 297 runs and Australia’s hopes were up and about.
Sadly that was as good as it got for the tourists on a day of complete misery as they spent the majority of day three toiling away under the hot sun.
Four half centuries were recorded in the second innings as the conditions miraculously turned in the favour of the batsmen.
Mitchell Starc entered the day with a strained hamstring and without his searing pace in the attack, the Aussies lost every facet of fear factor.
Adding further pain was the loss of Usman Khawaja, who tweaked his knee during the warm-ups prior to play getting underway.
It was announced he’d only miss the opening overs before concern set in as the timeline continued to expand. It ended with Khawaja failing to make an appearance in the field.
Usman Khawaja’s issue is with his left knee, the one he had the ACL tear on in 2014.
— Daniel Cherny 📰 (@DanielCherny) October 18, 2018
Nathan Lyon did all that he could, but the day well and truly belonged to the hosts as the runs piled up and the lead grew to unreachable heights.
Unfortunately there was heartache and devastation for Pakistan and it cruelly struck middle order batsman Babar Azam.
On the cusp of registering his maiden Test century, Azam fell agonisingly short after being trapped LBW by Mitch Marsh.
Azam needed only one run to bring up the triple figures but was caught on the backfoot as the ball slammed into his pads.
He opted to review the decision but it only delayed the inevitable.
Babar Azam, on 99, is pinned lbw by MMarsh. He has to review it, doesn’t he, but the ball-tracker shows it crashing into leg stump. Between the run out and this there has been some third innings drama #PakvAus
— Daniel Brettig (@danbrettig) October 18, 2018
After the tea break the wickets tumbled as Lyon and Labuschagne picked up three before the declaration call was finally made.
Two full days remained in the Test with Australia sitting a staggering 538 runs behind and needing a miracle to pull off another draw.
Sent in to face 12 overs before the day’s play came to an end it got off to a horrible start and continued the nightmare run for a severely out of form Aussie.
Shaun Marsh was sent out to open the batting in place of Khawaja and unfortunately the promotion up the order didn’t resurrect the horror showings Marsh has become accustomed too.
He was completely done in by a perfect delivery from Mir Hamza that flew past his bat and clattered into the top of off stump.
I hate to say it as I’m a fan but that may be the last test innings for Shaun Marsh #PAKvAUS
— Bernie Coen (@berniecoen) October 18, 2018
14 runs in 4 innings at 3.5 is NOT Shaun Marsh’s worst series. He made 17 in 6 innings at 2.83 in four Tests against India in 2011-12 #PakvAus
— Daniel Brettig (@danbrettig) October 18, 2018
Thankfully it didn’t get any worse for the Aussies as Aaron Finch and Travis Head managed to see out the remaining overs with their wickets intact.
An enormous mountain lies ahead of the Aussies and with the result effectively wrapped up, this innings is purely about putting up a fight for pride.
Can they salvage any or will another batting collapse put an end to what has been a miserable series under the new regime?
‘Poop my pants’: Pakistan star sends warning
Pakistan star Mohammad Abbas is scaring the pants off the cricket world on a global level.
The seamer’s super impressive form against Australia in the Second Test, where he finished with 5/33 in Australia’s second innings has seen his star on the rise around the world.
The way he got the ball to move even scared former English captain Michael Vaughan, who tweeted the star’s bowling display against Australia would have made him “poop my pants”.
Having watched Mahammad Abbas now for over a year … I have decided he would get me out every time within about 6 balls … The type of bowler i would poop my pants about … Thought I would let you all know … #PAKvAUS
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) October 17, 2018
Mohammad Abbas’ bowling average in the company of 19th century bowlers 👍https://t.co/mvwITXMw3o #PAKvAUS pic.twitter.com/EdVS3jkOJd
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 17, 2018
Abbas registered a five-wicket haul to steer Pakistan into a dominating position in the second Test.
Abbas finished with five for 33 to bowl out Australia for a paltry 145 to give Pakistan a 137-run lead in the first innings on the second day at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Pakistan stretched that lead to 281 as they were 144 for two at close, with Azhar Ali not out on 54 for his first half century in the series and Haris Sohail was 17 not out.
With eight wickets in hand Pakistan were in a great position to force a 1-0 lead in the two-match series after the first Test ended in a fighting draw in Dubai last week.
Azhar, who fell for disappointing scores of 18, four and 15 in the last three innings, batted with resolve, having so far hit three boundaries.
But it was once again debutant Fakhar Zaman who lifted Pakistan with a brilliant 66 following up his 94 in the first innings, before giving a return catch to Nathan Lyon who took an evasive action but still managed to hold onto the ball.
Zaman hit seven boundaries in an enterprising knock.
Zaman said Pakistan were in the driving seat.
“Yes, our position is good,” said Zaman.
“If we score 100-150 runs more on Thursday then with a turning wicket we have a very good chance of winning this Test.” Zaman said he was lucky to have played this Test.
“I was with the squad from the start but during the first Test I was about to return to Pakistan before, unfortunately, Imam-ul-Haq got injured and I got this chance of playing my first Test.” Mohammad Hafeez, who scored a hundred in the drawn first Test, fell to a lazy shot off pacer Mitchell Starc, caught at short mid-off for six.
— with AFP