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A stirring bowling performance by the Pakistani side sent Australia packing on the third day of the opening Test in Dubai and the tourists will now play out of their skins to come back into the game. You can follow the live blog of the fourth day of this first Test starting a 5:00pm (AEDT).
Pakistan are 189 runs ahead with all their wickets intact. With a possible 180 overs still to be bowled in the game, there seems to be enough time remaining in the Test match to force a result. Pakistan will be obvious favourites with a caveat.
PAKISTAN VS AUSTRALIA – DAY 5 LIVE SCORES AND BLOG
The caveat usually accompanies Pakistani cricket and is a result of some of the unfathomable results that are associated with their batting. A collapse is around the corner almost every other time they are at the crease and while they are still miles ahead in the game, they were in an even better position in 2010 in Sydney.
Realistically, if Pakistan bat at three runs an over, they could find themselves getting to a lead of more than 350 with about a day and a session remaining in the game. This is obviously assuming they don’t get bowled out the way they keep doing from positions of strength.
The question then is whether Misbah will look to declare early enough to given Australia enough overs to go after the target, which, at the same time will allow the Pakistani bowlers to pick up wickets regularly.
Australia batted 103 overs in their first innings and with the pitch deteriorating like it has over the last couple of days, lasting those many overs will be a tough proposition for the batsmen.
That is one reason why a target of 350 will be a par score and make for an interesting chase.
The other possible scenario that could play out is if Misbah goes really defensive and pushes the target up to more than 400 but at the same time, consumes a lot of overs to get there.
A target of more than 400 in 100 overs is within the realms of possibility for Australia only if David Warner can get going and bat long and hard. Else, there can only be one winner and what will be interesting to see is whether the tourists can bat out to save the Test match.
Join me for the third day of this 1st Test between Pakistan and Australia on Saturday here and you can follow the live score of this game from 5:00pm and post your comments below.
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