Follow Us“Seems like they are playing for a draw on the first day itself. It is ridiculous”
Waqar Younis’ words from the commentary box encapsulated a mundane first day of play in the Karachi Test. Australia, ushered by Usman Khawaja’s hundred, finished the day 251 for the loss of three wickets.
Younis’ comment came during a prolonged period of negative bowling from the Pakistan bowlers during the third session. The pitch was unresponsive and Pakistan decided not to go after the wickets but test Australia’s patience. The visitors had learnt their lesson from the Rawalpindi Test where they suffered a number of tame dismissals down the leg-side.
“They bowled pretty leg side and did some negative plans to see if we'd play some shots. We decided not to and didn't want to give them any free wickets,” said Khawaja, unbeaten at 127, at the end of the day’s play.
It was a timid build-up to the second new ball that saw the likes of Babar Azam and Azhar Ali bowling as well.
Overall, it was a day that belonged to the visitors, owing to the coin falling in their favor. Batting first, they put up 251 runs on the board. The position could have been more imposing had Steve Smith seen through stumps but a sudden lapse in concentration saw him edge the ball to the second slip in the penultimate over of play.
The first day conditions are not different from the opening day in Rawalpindi. However, with the Karachi track expected to assist spinners, Australia’s batting performance today holds a lot more significance.
“It's going to get worse but I think the first two or three days it'll be pretty nice but the feeling is it'll break up at the back end,” said Khawaja.
The start was a lot more exuberant from the Aussies. Khawaja appeared in supreme touch from the moment he scored the first boundary in the fourth over of the match. He punished anything that strayed on his pads, scoring six out of his 13 boundaries square of the wicket in the on-side. Khawaja’s touch rubbed on Warner as well who dismissed Sajid Khan down the ground to bring up with the 50-run stand with a six, in the 11th over of play.
*the strike-rate is reflection of the scoring shots
A six each for Khawaja and Warner in the 17th over hinted at ominous signs for the hosts when Faheem Ashraf produced a peach. Attacking Warner from around the stumps, Ashraf got one to move away just a little. It was enough to find the outside and provide the first breakthrough.
A few overs later, Marnus Labuschagne failed to add to his brilliant 91 in the previous Test. Renowned for his loud “no run” calls while rejecting a single, Labuschagne was found short by Sajid’s direct hit.
Smith’s arrival at the crease for a brief period before lunch brought a preconceived bowling change. Hasan Ali, known as a natural in-swinger against the right-handers, targetted Smith’s pads. It was clear he was looking to pin him in front of the stumps. Smith faced eight deliveries from Ali before lunch, most of them defended easily off the middle stump line.
Smith and Khawaja batted through the second session but at a slowish run-rare of 2.7 runs per over. Shaheen Shah Afridi found some reverse swing in the 52nd over of the innings, the second last over from that end before tea. Interestingly, it was the last over he bowled until the new ball was taken as skipper Babar Azam stopped hunting for wickets.
The 26 overs between tea and the second new ball were all about benign spin bowling. As Nauman Ali and Sajid focussed on the line outside the leg-stump, Khawaja and Smith restraint themselves to pad them out.
Khawaja reached a satisfying ton in the 64th over, tucking a Sajid into the on-side for a single. “This is the land of the Khawajas,” the left-hander reflected on his hundred revealing everyone in his family is born in Karachi. Khawaja, though, is the only one who is born in Islamabad. He missed his hundred by 3 runs in the previous Test in Rawalpindi, a town minutes away from Islamabad.
In Rawalpindi, Khawaja was out to a reverse sweep on 97. Here, he kept that shot in the locker for the entirety of his innings. It is not the ‘Sachin Tendulkar’s Sydney’ effort but the restrain from Khawaja still stood out as he batted all day.
In the penultimate over, Smith pushed at a Hasan Ali delivery he could have left. The ball just about carried to Ashraf at the second slip who was attentive enough to hold on to the one-handed catch low to his left. The effort cut Smith’s innings short at 72, stretching is hundred hiatus.
Pakistan had the opportunity to make a fourth breakthrough in the final over of the day. Nathan Lyon clipped one straight to Imam-Ul-Haq at short-leg. However, he wasn’t as attentive as Ashraf and spilled a straightforward chance.
Ending the day at 251/3, Australia will aim to double their tally and have a crack at the Pakistan batters. In Mitchell Swepson, they are playing a specialist leg-spinner for the first time since Bryce McGain played the only Test of his career in 2009. Expecting the pitch to turn more, the visitors will stand the chance to push for a win.