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Pakistan vs Australia: Second Test - Day 1 live scores, blog

Australia's Mitchell Starc is back in white and hoping to have an impact. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Roar Guru
30th October, 2014
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10808 Reads

Australia are left with no option but to win the second and final Test against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi after having been pummelled in the opener. Join The Roar for live coverage of the first day of the ​second Test starting at ​5:00 pm (AEDT).​

With Australia’s worst fears coming true in the first Test vis-a-vis spin bowling, they will need to come up with something different in the second Test of this very condensed series.

Whether that difference is in the make-up of the side or it is in the way they approach the art of spin, remains to be seen.

In a rare move by the Australian selectors, they opted to make two late changes to the final XI in the hours leading up to play on Day 1, dropping Steve O’Keefe and Alex Doolan in place of Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Starc.

Steve O’Keefe was playing in his debut Test but he did not give the look of a bowler who could run through the opposition in what looked like favourable conditions for the spinners.

To be fair to him, even Nathan Lyon struggled but the off-spinner’s experience and reasonable performances in previous Tests should be enough to get him the nod ahead of O’Keefe.

The other concern for Australia has been the way in which they batted against slow bowling.

David Warner looked good against spin, Steven Smith improved as the match went on but there was little else by way of support.

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Alex Doolan gave an impression he was a fish out of water, Michael Clarke looked rusty while Chris Rogers batted long but allowed spinners to dominate him easily. Brad Haddin and Mitchell Marsh also failed to get going with the bat.

Different batsmen will need to approach things differently, there cannot be one formula that fits all. For instance Marsh needs to shrug off any confusion he has whether to use bat alone or both bat and pad while playing spin.

Pakistan have no such worries but they will do well to not consider the series won already. One saw on the final day that the game went up to the penultimate hour before stumps and that was thanks to about four chances that Pakistan let go in the second session of play.

They may not make any changes to their side but will hope for more from Mohammad Hafeez at the top of the order. His bowling lacked a bit of bite as well, which could put bit of pressure on him from Taufeeq Umar, especially if Hafeez is still struggling with that foot injury of his.

Pakistan haven’t won a series against Australia in two decades and given the conditions and how their opposition went in the previous game, it could well represent a good chance of ending that wait.

The question is whether the side can show consistency in their batting as was on display in the first Test.

Join me for ​this opening day of ​​the second Test between Pakistan and Australia ​on Thursday here and you can follow the live score of this game from ​5:00pm (AEDT) and post your comments below.

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