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Australia lacked incisiveness on a placid Abu Dhabi pitch for the second day running and will now need their batsmen to save them from a whipping against Pakistan. Join The Roar for live coverage of the third day of this second Test starting 5:00pm (AEDT).
For most part of the second day’s play the pitch offered nothing for the bowlers. There were chances, and clear-cut ones at those but with the going having become tough, Australia failed to rise to the challenge in the field.
Mitchell Starc bowled a couple of decent spells, Mitchell Johnson troubled the batsmen in his first three overs of the day but apart from that there was nothing that went Australia’s way.
Brad Haddin’s shoulder injury only worsened it for Australia as he had to twice leave the field and hand over the gloves to David Warner.
Pakistan have all but sealed the series with what they had to offer on the second day. Fans may point out to what transpired earlier this year when Pakistan scored 451 in their first dig against Sri Lanka and still managed to lose the game but things are mightily different.
For one, Pakistan have amassed 570 and not 450 in their first innings, those extra runs will act as a buffer. Secondly, and more vitally, the Sri Lankan batsmen play spinners far better than the current Aussie side, which was the reason why they were able to reply to that 451 with 533.
To add to that, Sri Lanka then managed to bowl Pakistan out for 180 with Rangana Herath picking up six wickets in that second innings. Do Australia have a bowler of that pedigree for this pitch? The answer is an emphatic no.
In short, Australia have been pushed into a situation from where a draw looks their most likely option.
The early wicket of Chris Rogers won’t make it easy but with the likes of David Warner, Steve Smith and even Michael Clarke still remaining, the easy track should allow them to soothe any nerves.
What will be interesting to see is the amount of purchase that the Pakistani spinners get from the same track where the Australian tweakers suffered.
Join me for this third day of the second Test between Pakistan and Australia on Saturday here and you can follow the live score of this game from 5:00pm (AEDT) and post your comments in the section below.
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