Roar Guru
Pakistan fought back well after being pegged back early to leave the first Test against Australia in balance after the first day’s play. You can follow the live scores and blog of the second day of this first Test starting 5pm AEDT.
It was deemed to be slow pitch which had no green on it, and there were enough cracks to suggest that it would assist slow bowlers. Both teams had opted for the extra spinner too, which meant that winning the toss was going to be crucial.
PAKISTAN VS AUSTRALIA – DAY 5 LIVE SCORES AND BLOG
Pakistan seemed to have made a mess of batting first when both their openers fell before they had even reached double-figures. 19 balls into the game, Pakistan were 2/7 and their batting horrors from the limited-overs series seemed to be coming true again.
It was their more experienced middle-order that saved the day for Pakistan.
Younis Khan had come into the Test on the back of issues with the Pakistani management. After being selected in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, he was unceremoniously dropped from the squad despite having featured in just one game.
A miffed Younis had reacted emotionally in the media and asked the selectors to get rid of him even in the Tests but the PCB chairman Shahrayar Khan intervened, had a quiet word with him and overlooked the outburst.
Despite this, the pressure would have been on the former Pakistani captain to try and prove his mettle to his team and he did just that.
After the initial struggle to get runs against a stifling Australian attack, Younis got into his stride in the second session and by the time the day was into the final passage of play, he was batting like there was nothing wrong with the pitch.
Younis got to his 25th Test century with a six, which was a sign of how confident he had grown from the start of his which had seen him score just one from 34 deliveries.
Not that Australia allowed Pakistan to ever get away from their sights despite the ‘hosts’ losing just four wickets through the day.
At 4/219, which included an Azhar Ali half-century to go with Younis’ century, it still continues to remain anybody’s game but some of it could depend on how the first one hour of play will go on the second day.
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Mitchell Johnson, who had stunning figures of 3/22 from 20 overs, continues to remain a threat but with the new ball only 10 overs old, even Peter Siddle will be a difficult proposition to face up to. If they can get a couple out in those first 10 overs on Day 2, Australia could well restrict Pakistan to a below-par total on this pitch.
Pakistan have batted a day on this pitch and would have had a general idea about how much will push them into the realms of safety.
Anywhere between 350 and 400 will be good, especially given the slow nature of the track is making strokeplay not the easiest of proposition.
Join me for the second day of this first Test between Pakistan and Australia on Thursday here and you can follow the live score of this game from 5pm. If you want to get involved in the banter, feel free to post your comments below.