Australia reach 449/7 (trail by 27) at Stumps on Day 4 in the 1st Test against Pakistan

[angrypathan]

Soft dismissal

 

[ExpressPacer]

Best seats in the house today and it has so far been a spectacular experience to watch the game today. Rawalpindi fans have not disappointed whatsoever.

 

[angrypathan]

Shan Masood just ripped his pants

 

[PakPremi]

Why do they not bowl Fawad Alam ?
Even Azhar Ali was handy.

 

[angrypathan]

Chacha on a roll

 

[Omer2002]

Azar would be very usefull for sure ..a leggie bowling in the rough would have been good thats why i said Zahid mahmood should have played

 

[Xoib]

Chacha will fluke a fifer and get booked for rest of the series

 

[Rana]

Pakistan right back in this game

 

[Rana]

Dust spitting out now from the track

 

[Ashmal]

I think pakistani curators dont really have any expertise to produce balanced pitches otherwise they would have done it by now.
They lack the right knowledge or the conditions or arrangements are not that good enough or compatible to produce good pitches.

You need to go and watch the 2nd test vs SA last year....that pitch was perfect

They messed it up this time

 

[Usman Chadda]

Australia is a mediocre test team. Absolute garbage batsmen who haven’t been able to score a hundred on a road where Imam and Azhar schooled their much revered bowling attack.

 

[Mamoon]

This is counter-productive for Pakistan. The longer Pakistan bat against Lyon, the greater the chance for Australia to make something out of nothing.

Pakistan is completely out of this game already. It is 90% draw and 10% Australia.

Pakistan doesn’t have guts to try and force a result from this position. They would bat at 1 rpo and try to play out a draw and shake hands with 2 hours of play left.

 

[Omer2002]

Australia is a mediocre test team. Absolute garbage batsmen who haven’t been able to score a hundred on a road where Imam and Azhar schooled their much revered bowling attack.

Ok sure thats why they won the Ashes 4-0...Is that the reason we made such a pitch for them. They only lost the wickets because they wanted to up the anty not because they are mediocre...

 

[Rajdeep]

Australia's best batsman Nathan Lyon is yet to come.

 

[Rajdeep]

Tim Paine > Alex Carey as a batsman.

 

[Rana]

That isn’t out on umpires call either

 

[shariqnoor]

Personally I think Australia should've declared 1 hour ago. They were only 85 or so behind then. That would've put Pakistan under pressure because then they would've had to bat 2 sessions to salvage a draw. And everybody knows what happens to Pakistan when you put them under the spot. They could've folded under 50 overs even though it's a road. Slight probability but nevertheless a chance that Australia should've taken.

 

[Rana]

Shaheen typically, selfishly burning reviews

Rizwan is terrible behind the stumps at judging the line!

 

[angrypathan]

Beautiful yorker from Shaheen, just going down leg though

 

[Rana]

Pakistan can win this if they just get their act right for an hour and get these last 4 wickets!

 

[Kianig89]

No.idea where the game is heading Will be interesting when Australia declare

 

[angrypathan]

Shaheen bowling absolute heat here

 

[Usman Chadda]

Pakistan can win this if they just get their act right for an hour and get these last 4 wickets!

This will be a draw. Only a sensational meltdown by Pakistan can make this game interesting now.

 

[Rana]

Carey loves playing reverse sweeps against the spin but not with the spin

 

[Rana]

Australia will be the ones stupid to declare

150 could be tricky on Day 5 with 2 sessions

Average score in the fourth innings is 171 in Pindi

 

[Omer2002]

I think its time for a Naseem Spell nothing happening for Sajid

 

[shariqnoor]

Australia will be the ones stupid to declare

150 could be tricky on Day 5 with 2 sessions

Average score in the fourth innings is 171 in Pindi

For Australia to set 150 with 2 sessions, they'd need to score about 180 in tomorrow's morning session. It's not going to happen.

 

[shariqnoor]

Australia has played extremely slow today. They took a page out of Pakistan's book. Should've played at 3.5 rpo atleast. Terrible batting by them.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Both Naseem and Shaheen are satisfied spraying the ball down the legside

 

[Usman Chadda]

Rizwan getting an absolute beating behind the wicket. Struggling with the ridiculous low bounce.

 

[angrypathan]

Well bowled

 

[Mamoon]

Three certainties of life: death, taxes and Naseem conceding a boundary every over.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Finally some luck for Naseem, outstanding delivery.

No century still by these home track bullies

 

[Shazzam]

Finally some luck for Naseem, outstanding delivery.

No century still by these home track bullies

Unlike Pakistan, Australians don’t play for the personal milestones. They play to win the game.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Unlike Pakistan, Australians don’t play for the personal milestones. They play to win the game.

So this is the new coping mechanism for them being mediocre in the subcontinent?

There is no excuse for their top four not being able to go on and score a century in this game, no excuse whatsoever. Also this is a second string Pakistan bowling attack they are facing, keep in mind.

 

[Shazzam]

So this is the new coping mechanism for them being mediocre in the subcontinent?

There is no excuse for their top four not being able to go on and score a century in this game, no excuse whatsoever. Also this is a second string Pakistan bowling attack they are facing, keep in mind.

They played at a faster rate than the Pakistani’s and collectively scored runs to reach the 400 mark. So those centuries you speak of are useless to the context of the game.

 

[MenInG]

PAK 476/4 d
AUS 449/7 (137) CRR: 3.28
Day 4: Stumps - Australia trail by 27 runs

 

[MenInG]

 

[MenInG]

In a day where only two sessions of play were possible, Pakistan managed to pick up five wickets but Australia, led by Steve Smith's fifty, managed to close in on the hosts' first innings total.

Fans around the world had to wait for action on day four of the first Test to start as the first session was washed out. Though it was bright and sunny in Rawalpindi, overnight rains had left several wet patches on the field.

Play finally started after the lunch break and Australia, commencing the day from an overnight score of 271/2, continued to make merry on a flat track. The overnight rain had little effect on the pitch and as a result the toil continued for the bowlers.

Marnus Labuschagne looked in a hurry to get to his hundred, smashing three fours in three overs but was undone by a brilliant delivery from Shaheen Afridi. Coming around the wicket, he forced a shot and the Aussie batter edged it to the slip – becoming the second batter in the innings to fall in the nervous 90s.

One wicket brought two for Pakistan as Travis Head, after slamming two fours, was out caught behind to Nauman Ali for 8. Steve Smith at the other end, was extra cautious after the two wickets and slowly got to his 34th Test fifty. Cameron Green kept him company and the two took Australia safely to tea.

Pakistan started with pace and spin but soon spinners started operating at both ends, who did a great job at drying the runs up. The move eventually paid off as Green, two runs away from a fifty, tried to sweep his way to the milestone but only managed to top-edge it to short fine leg.

Ali soon got Smith as well with the negative line ploy outside leg stump, as Smith too tried to sweep his way out but Rizwan took a good reflex catch behind the stumps. Naseem Shah then got in on the action and rattled Alex Carey's stumps for 19.

The light meters soon came out and the umpires decided to take the players off the field due to bad light, with Australia 27 runs behind and with one day's play remaining.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/2520099

 

[Inswinging Yorker]

Its truly a waste of time producing a pitch to suit the batsmen...nothing is accomplished except the death of bowlers.

 

[sweep_shot]

It should be a boring draw.

The pitch seems too flat.

 

[Sherlock]

Honestly I disliked the bowling line-up to begin with.

Sajid and Nauman are both average bowlers, and Naseem hasn't shown anything in the longer format to prove his deserved a chance to play.

Abbas would've been perfect on this slow pitch, especially with no Hasan Ali.

I don't know what they see in Sajid and Nauman tbh. Taking wickets vs Bangladesh on spinning tracks is one thing, but doing it on slower and minimal spinning tracks is another.

 

[LegendAli]

It should be a boring draw.

The pitch seems too flat.

seems?

 

[MenInG]

Steve Smith speaking to the press about the pitch:

"Its pretty benign (pitch) and there's not a great deal of pace and bounce in it for the seamers, that's for sure but I think spinners have got a little bit out of it; When you hit the right spot (as a spinner) there has been a little bit of natural variation and you get it out wide into the rough, I think there is a little bit there too; I thought it would break up a bit and turn a little more than the start of the game but it hasn't done so... yeah, a pretty benign dead wicket"

 

[MenInG]

Steve Smith said he was annoyed at missing out on a century Monday as Australia's first Test in Pakistan in nearly a quarter of a century headed for a draw in Rawalpindi. Mitchell Starc was on 12 and skipper Pat Cummins four as Australia reached 449-7 in reply to Pakistan's first innings total of 476-4 declared. But Smith was annoyed with himself for getting out earlier on 78. "I got a bit greedy with the field they had set. I had worked pretty hard and got myself in a nice position to go on and get a big score."

Australia are on their first tour to Pakistan since 1998, having previously refused to visit over security fears.

Despite no rain forecast for Tuesday, the likelihood of a result in the opening match of the three-Test series looks bleak, barring a Pakistan batting collapse in the second innings on a wicket that still looks full of runs.

Smith believes there would have been a small chance of a result on the final day if not for the hours of play lost to the weather.

"Perhaps if we were five down we might have been able to push a little harder in the morning and potentially set something up for the fourth innings," he said.

But the pitch at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium has produced 925 runs for just 13 wickets, and is unlikely to yield the spin needed for a result.

Still, Pakistan grabbed five wickets Monday, including that of top-ranked Test batsman Marnus Labuschagne (90) and Smith, with Nauman taking 4-107 in 37 precise overs.

Nauman broke a stubborn fifth-wicket stand of 81 between Smith and Cameron Green (48) by having the young all-rounder caught off a miscued sweep at leg slip by Iftikhar Ahmed.

Australia were looking for quick runs to go ahead in the first innings, but they were further jolted as Nauman dismissed Smith off a mishit sweep that caught the gloves and landed in wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan's safe hands.

Smith batted two minutes short of five hours, hitting eight boundaries.

Alex Carey made 19 before he was bowled by quickie Naseem Shah in the fading light.

Earlier, overnight rain had left the outfield at the stadium waterlogged and the umpires only allowed play to start after lunch.

Australia, 271-2 overnight, progressed to 288-2 when Pakistan took the second new ball after 80 overs -- and were instantly rewarded.

Left-arm paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi forced an edge off Labuschagne which Abdullah Shafique took diving to his right in the slips.

Labuschagne lasted 190 minutes during which he hit 12 boundaries.

Travis Head, fresh from being man-of-the-series in Australia's 4-0 Ashes win back home in January, hit two boundaries before he miscued a drive off spinner Nauman and was caught behind by Rizwan.

Shaheen (1-80), Naseem (1-89) and Sajid (1-122) were the other successful Pakistan bowlers.

The second Test of the series is in Karachi from March 12-16 and the third in Lahore from March 21-25.

NDTV

 

[MenInG]

Highlights for Day 4

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[jnaveen1980]

It is very rare these days where both teams completely boss the bowlers. Straight out of the 1980s, 2000s. Either one team dominates with bat and ball, or both teams dominate with ball. That is why we see a lot more result-oriented matches these days. This is an exception.