TALKING POINTS
Follow UsAustralia will be disappointed to have not breached the 500, losing their last five wickets for just 76 runs. However, they still managed a formidable 487, and in response, Pakistan played responsibly, with the contest well in balance at the end of Day Two. Let's take a look at some of the key talking points of the day:
Imam, Shafique put on a show
Imam-ul-Haq ended Day Two unbeaten on 38 off 136 deliveries, and it was an exhibition of patient batting from the Pakistan opener. He barely went after any delivery outside off and was solid in defence. He left the ball alone extremely well, often leaving them even on length. The Australian bowlers threw the kitchen sink at him but could not find success.
More often than not, he looked to score when the ball was on middle or even further down, which Alastair Cook did so well in Australian conditions.
Also, Imam left over 73% of the deliveries he faced alone, further emphasising how well in control he has been in this innings.
His partner Abdullah Shafique, on the other hand, chased a couple of deliveries well outside off and escaped with unconvincing boundaries. Nathan Lyon won the battle as Shafique came down the track and edged it to David Warner at leg-slip, which was really the first instance of either batter losing patience after a series of dots.
Like Iman, Shafique too was compact in his defence and continued to frustrate the Australian bowlers. While it was not a partnership that glittered with free-flowing strokes, it certainly was an effective one after Australia put up 487 in the first innings.
Masood makes a statement
In his first Test as captain, Shan Masood played aggressive, counter-attacking cricket to keep the scorecard ticking. He took on the Australian bowlers, slashed outside off, ran well between the wickets and also charged down to Lyon. In the end, he played one shot too many and that cost him his wicket. He was dismissed with just 10 minutes left in today's (December 15) play. On the flipside, one could say that he could have just left that one alone, but the southpaw looked in no mood to back down.
After the first wicket stand was broken after 36.2 overs with just 74 on the board, Masood and Imam added 49 off just 80 deliveries for the second wicket to induce a bit of momentum, but they would been a lot happier if the skipper was at the crease on Day Three.
In Tests, Masood has scored between 25 and 49 10 times out of his 57 innings, which is a poor conversion rate. That's perhaps something he would look to improve on.
Aamer Jamal shines on debut
Fast bowler Aamer Jamal bowled a superb spell in the latter stages of Day One, where he got Travis Head and David Warner off short-pitched deliveries and today, he started off by getting Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc with two beauties - a full delivery that seamed away right at the last moment to knock over the wickets. He eventually finished with six wickets, adding the wickets of Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon to his tally.
Also Read: Aamer Jamal arrives at the Test arena with a bang
He may have gone at five-and-a-half an over, but his lion-hearted certainly deserves applause. He bowled according to the plan. He bowled short on Day One and found success when needed and when there was some movement today, he bowled a little fuller and proved to be effective, further proving that he was indeed a clever operator.
Marsh shows his class
Mitchell Marsh was just 10 runs away from getting to yet another ton on his home ground at the start of the final session, but was denied by Khurram Shahzad who bowled a peach to clean him up first ball. A big hundred might have surely put an end to the Marsh vs Cam Green discussion to bed, but this innings has certainly not done any harm.
With 340 runs at 56.66 this 2023, Marsh has had his most successful year in Test cricket. In comparison, Green has managed 269 runs at 29.88, but he has the ability to chip in with many more overs than Marsh. However, even with the ball, Green has not run away with it, having scalped just seven wickets at 56.57.
A fully fit Marsh is a massive threat regardless of the format and over the last couple of years, he has proved just that.
Did Australia pacers bowl too short?
With the Pakistan batters leaving the ball well just on length, should the Australia bowlers have pitched the ball further up? Perhaps that would have made the Pakistan batters play a few more shots and a few more chances could have been created.
The Australian pacers - Mitchell Starc (12), Josh Hazlewood (13), Pat Cummins (10) and Marsh (4) - bowled 30 of the 39 overs between them in the 6-10m length, i.e, at either good length or back-of-length. They also bowled 21 deliveries (3.3 overs) in the short area. When Starc pitched it up a little bit, he got the wicket of Masood. That is something Australia perhaps need to do on Day Three.
