Australia end Day 1 of the 3rd Test against Pakistan on 232/5

[MenInG]

LAHORE: Pakistan’s right-arm speedster Naseem Shah has expressed his desire to bowl out Australia under the 300 mark on the second day of the third Test of the Benaud-Qadir Trophy.

Naseem, while talking to the virtual press conference after the conclusion of the opening day of the Lahore Test, has expressed his desire to bowl out the touring side under 300.

“The late wickets have shifted the momentum in our favour. We will now try to get Australia out within three hundred,” he said.

The right-arm pacer, who took two wickets on the opening day, revealed that he always try to give his best. Whereas, also revealed that Steve Smith’s wicket has given a lot of confidence to him.

“I always try to give my best whenever given the opportunity. I did the same today and fortunately, get the ball to reverse swing. The pitch was a bit slow so I tried to bowl a little quicker,” he said.

“I am quite happy with my performance today. The wicket of Steve Smith means a lot to me and it has given me a lot of confidence,” he added.

Naseem further claimed that he does not get frustrated over the slow pitch and always focus on his input.

“I do not get angry if the pitch is slow. This is something that is not in our hands. We can work hard and we do that,” he said.

“I feel a bit frustrated about not getting wickets in such hot weather. But, I always try to keep myself relaxed,” he concluded.

A-Sports

 

[shamaan]

Good performance by Pakistan better pitch that the first 2 tests. Need to bowl Australia out for 300-320

 

[MenInG]

Highlights

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[Savak]

Ball is keeping low and reversing from day one. Nervous about our batting prospects. Starc, Cummins, Green will aggressively target the pads.

 

[realitygaf]

Not sure why if naseem can be the same speed as he is in psl throughout his 20 overs why can’t shaheen be 140+ just like in PSL


I feel like even Hassan ali who is match unfit was bowling faster than shaheen

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Will need a KP like inning to win this match.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Pitch looks to have a low bounce for day one - it's probably going to be a nightmare by day 3 and 4.
Interesting game ahead for Pak batsmen - lets see if they can cope with it just as good as Khawaja and Smith did?

 

[MenInG]

Usman Khawaja has said it's funny that people are talking about Steve Smith's Test century drought given the former skipper is still consistently producing big scores.

Smith cut a frustrated figure after being dismissed for 59 on day one of the third Test against Pakistan in Lahore.

The 32-year-old combined with Khawaja (91) for a crucial 138-run stand to help settle the ship after Australia had crashed to 2-8.

Smith's most recent Test century came against India in January, 2021.

Since then he has batted 14 times in the Test arena and produced seven half-centuries, including scores of 93, 81, 78, and 72.

Smith's latest half-century helped Australia reach 5-232 at stumps on day one, and Khawaja feels it's just a matter of time before the star batsman reaches triple figures again.

"I'm sure he's frustrated in some respects," Khawaja said.

"He is, in my opinion, the greatest batsman I've seen in my era, averaging 60 pretty much his whole Test career.

"I'm still in awe in how many runs he's scored over a long period of time.

"I find it so funny we're talking about Steve Smith not scoring 100s, he seems to be getting 70, 80 ... and doing it very easily. That's just the class Steve Smith has.

"I'm sure once he gets a big score, more big scores (will come). The fact he's getting those 60s, 70s, he's looking really good with the bat."

Smith was trapped lbw when his bat got caught in the flap of his back pad when he attempted to play Naseem Shah to the leg side.

"I've been there, it's not fun when it happens," Khawaja said.

"It's almost like in slow motion. You bowl that again and he's hitting it 99 out of 100 times, or 100 out of 100 times. The bat just got stuck, a little bit unlucky."

Khawaja's latest knock took his series tally to 392 runs at an average of 130.66, but he was in struggle town while at the crease on Monday.

"I was a little bit sick. I got some medication from the doc in between breaks," Khawaja said.

"I wasn't feeling well at all. There were a lot of mind games in between.

"I just told myself, 'just keep going, go as long as you can, just keep pushing through'.

"And to push through for five hours - I felt absolutely horrible at the end of the day.

"I could have easily just gone harder and played a big shot and got out on 20 or 30.

"So for me to get 90 on the day with the heat, I'm actually really happy with it."

https://7news.com.au/sport/cricket/smiths-test-century-drought-continues-c-6154275

 

[andy0204]

Big opportunity for Cameron green to show his batting skills.

 

[Babeikh]

Doesn't look like there are any demons in the pitch. A little bit of variable bounce but it is slow so not difficult for batsman to adjust when necessary. Feel Aussies have missed a huge opportunity here after winning the toss and will be very disappointed with their score. They desperately need a big partnership tomorrow morning.

 

[Kianig89]

Once Australia crossed 300 they are safe.1st session very important tomorrow its been 11 days still no clear favourite in the series what else spectators want

 

[Sarwar89]

These roads are kind of pitches where even if you are 9 wickets down, even 10th wicket can add 30-40 runs. So even if Pakistan takes 4 wickets in Morning session and reduce Aussies to 300/9, still Pak has to earn the last wicket. Such is the nature of these pitches.
Because of that, may be Green/Carey might completly flop
In morning but Lyon/Cummins might end up scoring handy runs.
In short our bowlers have give relentless effort in morning to put Aussies on back foot.
But they must also keep in mind that 340 is par score on this pitch. Our batters will have to bat very well, fawad is a weak link, the guy is old and under pump, his place in the team is questionable. Can he deliver something meaningful, why am i feeling that Naseem might end up scoring more runs than Fawad.

 

[Mainul]

The catches Pakistan dropped will be the ultimate decider of the game. This pitch isn't as batting friendly as the first 2 tests. It will produce result certainly.


Why Pakistan didn't take Zahid in place or ordinary Sajid. This old guy is a very ordinary spinner .

 

[Mainul]

[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] are you still around?

" Yes I am. Why not? Pakistanis are the most delusional fans in the world and Naseem is the most overrated pacer in the history. There is no talent coming up for us for sure in next 3 centuries. We should accept this bitter truth . " Please don't mind sir

 

[Amjid Javed]

Aussies tail is pretty strong, pakistans tail is pretty poor. This could be the big difference in the match.

we need to run through the Aussie batting in 1st session tomorrow.

 

[alwiarif46]

Pak fans are disappointing

I am sorry to state that Pakistani fans are so dejected with everything and everyone. It's fine to criticize your own team but to this extent seems unreal. You should be thankful that you don't have as much resources as some of other countries have but you still have enough talent to compete with the best.
One more thing. The people at the helm have much more experience and knowledge of the profession they are in. Our opinions change on small factors. they have a lot to take in. Please trust people and their judgements. Sometimes they may fail bit then they are human too.
Best of luck Pakistan

 

[imshally81]

The catches Pakistan dropped will be the ultimate decider of the game. This pitch isn't as batting friendly as the first 2 tests. It will produce result certainly.


Why Pakistan didn't take Zahid in place or ordinary Sajid. This old guy is a very ordinary spinner .

Zahid is also ordinary..