It would be fair to say that the first Test against Pakistan was not much fun for Australian fans to watch, but I have to admit it was a brilliant game to call.
The fact that Pakistan swarmed all over our national side for 12 of the 15 sessions was part of it. The fact that, despite that dominance, Australia had us thinking of the draw in the last session of Day 5 was also a factor. Even one more Australian half-century could have taken it right down the final overs.
Commentating the Test on Roar Radio, our band of callers got more excited and absorbed with each passing session. After a tough first day the excitement built, and we couldn’t deny we were seeing something that was both historic and highly entertaining.
Foremost was the way Pakistan attacked the game. They were calm, resolute, morphing into ruthless. How often have we been able to say that about the other men in baggy green caps?
Ten minutes in – especially after Pakistan’s terrible ODI batting – it looked like Australia were just going to roll on. Mitchell Johnson swung one in to brutalise Mohammed Hafeez’s boot, followed by what must be the worst review of all time, Hafeez asking the third umpire what was going to happen to a yorker hitting in front of middle.
Presumably the young non-striker Ahmed Shehzad didn’t want to say that his senior teammate was a dead duck falling turfward. Still in that state of confusion he lunged too far across at a Peter Siddle delivery and was unconventionally bowled off his arse.
Two down for seven runs in the fourth. But Azhar Ali, the first-drop batsman with the physique of a cinder block and the tenacity to match, became a wall. At the other end Younis Khan danced all manner of undignified hornpipes outside his off stump, but somehow kept the bat away from ball when required, and got it in the way when necessary.
They put on 108 slow runs, and a pattern was set. No more wickets fell in clusters. The next partnership was 83, then 93, then 124.
Younis fell after his century, and at 4/219 by stumps, Australia could still have roared back with quick wickets the next day. But Misbah-ul-Haq made 69, first doggedly and then expansively. The young number six Asad Shafiq used his feet endlessly to the spinners, lofting Nathan Lyon and Steven O’Keefe through the leg side to make 89.
Then wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed went one better: 109 from 105 balls, in a true Gilchristian innings from seventh in the order. It was brilliant to watch, and the Australian attack was exhausted in heat well over 40 degrees. The tail wasn’t finished until first ball after tea on Day 2.
Then we had the treat of David Warner’s centuring, his third in consecutive innings, and sixth score in a row above 50. Warner looks to have complete confidence and control of his game. He defended when he chose, attacked when it suited him. It suited him often. Spin didn’t bother him. Watching he and Rogers cruise through that final session adding 113 just seemed impudent.
Sadly, after Rogers’ support, the rest of the Australians couldn’t contribute. Warner made 133, the rest made 163 between them. Australia gave up a 151-run deficit.
But here’s what was really excellent about this game. After such unexpected composure in their first innings, Pakistan’s batsmen came out and dominated again. This time it was Shehzad, the butt of all my first-innings jokes, with a masterpiece of attack and defence over nearly five hours.
The cinder block gave good support, then it was Younis back for another round. Before this match he’d never scored a ton against Australia. Now he had one in each innings, and was the first Pakistan player to score one against every Test nation.
Not only that, but a batsman so far beneath the radar that I hadn’t even mentioned him in my series preview had just passed Inzaman-ul-Haq’s mark to score the most Test centuries for Pakistan. His tally of 26 puts him up with the game’s best.
Both he and Shehzad opened the shoulders later to bomb Australia’s bowling into the stands. They took Siddle for 20 from an over with some audacious shots. It was thrilling attack built on determined defence, in a match in which Pakistan’s batsmen ticked every box required.
Then there was the bowling: good in the first innings, great in the second. How outrageous this story, that Pakistan should go into a Test with two bowlers on debut, a frontline quartet with eight Tests and 22 wickets between them, and not just triumph but dominate.
In the fourth innings it was all Zulfiqar Babar, a 35-year-old left-arm spinner in his third Test, and Yasir Shah, a roly-poly leg spinner on debut. They bowled 56.1 overs, the rest bowled 35. And they were excellent.
Zulfiqar was persistent and deliberate, his sly arm-ball sliding across Warner to have him stumped, his nagging length and variation seeing Australian batsmen popping up catches all round the wicket.
Yasir was the carnival exhibit, ripping the ball what looked like two metres across the bewildered Rogers, then foxing the right-handed batsmen with straighter balls and subtle turn. His accuracy was excellent for such a big ripper of the ball, and Australia had few answers. At 28 years old, you wonder just where he’s been hiding.
But with all that on display, Steve Smith still played out a fluent yet determined 55, never looking like he was grinding but seeing off 175 deliveries nonetheless. Mitchell Johnson was similarly stoic with two and a half hours of batting for his 61.
The third umpire’s stumping call may not have cost Australia a draw, but to get into the last session their middle-order fizzle showed some pretty special fight from some of these Australian players.
We were with them for every ball of the journey, and we’ll be calling every ball of today’s second Test on Roar Radio. Putting parochialism aside, if this match is as entertaining as the first, it’s going to be another excellent five days.
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