Usman Kh steers Australia to record-breaking draw against Pakistan
DUBAI (Reuters) – Usman Khawaja batted bravely for nearly nine hours to make 141 and help Australia salvage a draw in the first Test against Pakistan in Dubai on Thursday.
Set an improbable victory target of 462, Australia resumed on 136-3 hoping to survive the final day to force a draw at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
The overnight pair of Khawaja and Travis Head played sensibly to deny the Pakistan attack in the morning session and guide their team to 215-3 at lunch.
Pakistan threatened to slice through the Australian middle order when Head was trapped lbw for 72 by off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez. Debutant Marnus Labuschagne soon followed, dismissed by leg-spinner Yasir Shah for 13.
After looking vulnerable against the spinners for the first half hour on a deteriorating pitch, Australia captain Tim Paine settled down and built a crucial partnership with Khawaja.
Khawaja completed his century off 224 balls with 10 fours, becoming only the fifth Australian to score a hundred in the fourth innings of a test match in Asia.
“(The plan was to) Just bat. Wasn’t thinking too much,” Khawaja, who was adjudged man-of-the-match award, said.
“It was decent but it was getting tougher and tougher. We thought that if we batted two sessions we’d be in good stead.”
Shah went on remove Khawaja, Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle in quick succession, keeping Pakistan’s victory hopes alive until the last over of the match.
But Paine (61) and Nathan Lyon (5) remained unbeaten to seal the draw as Australia finished on 362-8 - the second highest fourth-innings score by a visiting team in a test in Asia.
“It was extremely tough test match. Pakistan played very well and had us under the pump for three days,” Paine said.
“Everyone had a plan. Usman was more defensive than usual. There was a bit of a collapse but the guys have been working hard over the last few months and I’m happy everything’s gone to plan.”
Abu Dhabi will host the second and final Test starting on Tuesday.
SCOREBOARD
Pakistan 1st innings Imam ul-Haq c Tim Paine b Nathan Lyon 76 Mohammad Hafeez lbw Peter Siddle 126 Azhar Ali c Mitchell Starc b Jon Holland 18 Haris Sohail c Tim Paine b Nathan Lyon 110 Mohammad Abbas b Peter Siddle 1 Asad Shafiq c Tim Paine b Marnus Labuschagne 80 Babar Azam Run Out Marnus Labuschagne 4 Sarfraz Ahmed Run Out Aaron Finch 15 Bilal Asif b Peter Siddle 12 Wahab Riaz Not Out 7 Yasir Shah c Tim Paine b Mitchell Starc 3 Extras 6b 21lb 3nb 0pen 0w 30 Total (164.2 overs) 482 all out Fall of Wickets : 1-205 ul-Haq, 2-222 Hafeez, 3-244 Ali, 4-260 Abbas, 5-410 Shafiq, 6-418 Azam, 7-456 Sohail, 8-470 Ahmed, 9-473 Asif, 10-482 Shah Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex Mitchell Starc 36.2 11 90 1 2.48 2nb Peter Siddle 29 11 58 3 2.00 Nathan Lyon 52 12 114 2 2.19 Jon Holland 29 1 126 1 4.34 Marnus Labuschagne 8 0 29 1 3.62 Mitchell Marsh 10 0 38 0 3.80 1nb ................................................................. Australia 1st innings Usman Khawaja c Imam ul-Haq b Bilal Asif 85 Aaron Finch c Asad Shafiq b Mohammad Abbas 62 Shaun Marsh c Asad Shafiq b Bilal Asif 7 Mitchell Marsh lbw Mohammad Abbas 12 Travis Head c Haris Sohail b Bilal Asif 0 Marnus Labuschagne c Imam ul-Haq b Bilal Asif 0 Tim Paine c Imam ul-Haq b Bilal Asif 7 Mitchell Starc c Sarfraz Ahmed b Mohammad Abbas 0 Peter Siddle b Mohammad Abbas 10 Nathan Lyon c Imam ul-Haq b Bilal Asif 6 Jon Holland Not Out 0 Extras 6b 7lb 0nb 0pen 0w 13 Total (83.3 overs) 202 all out Fall of Wickets : 1-142 Finch, 2-160 Marsh, 3-167 Khawaja, 4-171 Head, 5-171 Labuschagne, 6-183 Marsh, 7-183 Paine, 8-191 Starc, 9-202 Siddle, 10-202 Lyon Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex Mohammad Abbas 19 9 29 4 1.53 Wahab Riaz 11 2 39 0 3.55 Yasir Shah 28 6 80 0 2.86 Mohammad Hafeez 3 1 2 0 0.67 Bilal Asif 21.3 7 36 6 1.67 Azhar Ali 1 0 3 0 3.00 ............................................................. Pakistan 2nd innings Imam ul-Haq c&b Jon Holland 48 Mohammad Hafeez c Marnus Labuschagne b Jon Holland 17 Bilal Asif c Travis Head b Nathan Lyon 0 Azhar Ali lbw Jon Holland 4 Haris Sohail lbw Marnus Labuschagne 39 Asad Shafiq c Mitchell Marsh b Nathan Lyon 41 Babar Azam Not Out 28 Extras 2b 2lb 0nb 0pen 0w 4 Total (57.5 overs) 181 decl Fall of Wickets : 1-37 Hafeez, 2-38 Asif, 3-45 Ali, 4-110 ul-Haq, 5-110 Sohail, 6-181 Shafiq Did Not Bat : Ahmed, Shah, Abbas, Riaz Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex Mitchell Starc 6 1 18 0 3.00 Nathan Lyon 25.5 6 58 2 2.25 Peter Siddle 2 1 3 0 1.50 Jon Holland 20 3 83 3 4.15 Travis Head 1 0 6 0 6.00 Marnus Labuschagne 3 0 9 1 3.00 ........................................................... Australia 2nd innings Aaron Finch lbw Mohammad Abbas 49 Usman Khawaja lbw Yasir Shah 141 Shaun Marsh c Sarfraz Ahmed b Mohammad Abbas 0 Mitchell Marsh lbw Mohammad Abbas 0 Travis Head lbw Mohammad Hafeez 72 Marnus Labuschagne lbw Yasir Shah 13 Tim Paine Not Out 61 Mitchell Starc c Babar Azam b Yasir Shah 1 Peter Siddle lbw Yasir Shah 0 Nathan Lyon Not Out 5 Extras 13b 4lb 3nb 0pen 0w 20 Total (139.5 overs) 362-8 Fall of Wickets : 1-87 Finch, 2-87 Marsh, 3-87 Marsh, 4-219 Head, 5-252 Labuschagne, 6-331 Khawaja, 7-333 Starc, 8-333 Siddle Did Not Bat : Holland Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex Mohammad Abbas 27 7 56 3 2.07 Mohammad Hafeez 6 0 29 1 4.83 Yasir Shah 43.5 9 114 4 2.60 Wahab Riaz 16 3 42 0 2.62 3nb Bilal Asif 37 8 87 0 2.35 Haris Sohail 9 1 16 0 1.78 Asad Shafiq 1 0 1 0 1.00 .................................... Umpire Richard Illingworth Umpire Richard Kettleborough Video Sundaram Ravi Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle