Shortly before the end of Day 3 of the second Test, Australia were dismissed 309 runs short of Pakistan’s first innings total.
Misbah ul-Haq chose not to enforce the follow-on, because he had something much more interesting in store.
Here are the ratings for him and the remainder of the Test.
Ryan Harris
Grade: A
Ryan Harris underwent knee surgery in March, after bowling in pain for most of the back half of the 2013-14 Australian summer and the tour of South Africa. After a clean-out of loose pieces of cartilage and the removal of bone spurs within the joint, the surgery was followed by months of arduous, painful rehabilitation and countless hours of exercise in the gym to strengthen his wasted quad muscles.
Despite the surgery taking place over six months ago, he was still unable to make this tour due to the sheer magnitude of the damage that had been done to his knee over the years.
God, he must be happy.
Younis Khan
Grade: D
The other Australian bowlers weren’t quite so lucky. Despite a 309-run lead in the first innings, Pakistan chose not to enforce the follow-on and instead batted again. Since this was a clear ploy to give Younis Khan a chance to score an unprecedented century in every innings of a series, the openers got quickly to work, both falling to Johnson within three overs to get the potential record-breaker to the crease.
Younis stuck to his usual method – the one where he simply refuses to be dismissed – and amassed a century partnership with Azhar Ali.
Then, bafflingly, Younis decided to vary from that method and Steve Smith turned one into his pads, trapping him LBW still 54 runs short of his predestined ton. It was a curious choice from the almost 37-year-old batsman and it must make Pakistan wonder for how long they can afford to carry him in their team.
Misbah Ul-Haq
Grade: B-
Misbah then came in and scored the fastest fifty and the equal fastest hundred in Test history. Bafflingly, he did not go for the fastest double, triple or quadruple century. Opportunity missed.
The most worried person as Misbah launched his stunning assault on the defeated Australian attack was Azhar Ali. Despite being 66 when his captain joined him at the crease, there was a very real risk that if Misbah beat him to the century, he would obliviously declare on him.
Eventually, Misbah did beat him to the century and did declare, but only after generously waiting for Azhar Ali to score the extra run needed to become the most overshadowed twin-century maker in Test history. In the process, he also denied the Australian bowlers a chance to take ten wickets in the match. Disappointing for the Aussie lads, who’d worked hard to get so close.
Wicketkeepers
Grade: A-
Australia used three wicket-keepers in the Test – Brad Haddin, David Warner and eventually Glenn Maxwell (given the gloves, presumably, to see if he could invent a reverse slog-stumping).
But if Haddin doesn’t recover in time for the first Test against India in a few weeks, who will be his replacement? Will it be Matthew Wade? Peter Nevill? Chris Hartley?
No. I say the selectors should go for Adam Gilchrist and give him a fresh shot at claiming that record for the fastest Test ton. It’s the only way he can redeem what, in retrospect, appears to be a rather disappointing Test career.
Batting in the baggy green
Grade: C
Australia had been set 603 to win. Most astute judges expected the final scorecard to therefore read 1/603 (Warner 300, Maxwell 299*, Rogers 4*).
Alas, it wasn’t to be.
Instead, Australian wickets fell cheaply, with even Maxwell out to a disappointingly conventional LBW. (This, despite an earlier, much more Maxwellian effort to be bowled around his legs while missing a reverse sweep.)
On the plus side, many of the Australians pulled on the baggy green while batting, always a good thing to see. Although perhaps this was the problem – batting coaches now think you should never pull on your baggy green while batting, believing it’s much better form to leave your cap alone and keep both hands on the bat. Hopefully the Australians have taken that lesson from this tour.
In the end, despite some resistance from Steve Smith and Mitch Marsh (the latter of whom refused to wear the baggy green even while facing spin, raising the question of why he hates Australia), the visitors eventually crumbled shortly after lunch for 246, to lose by 356 runs.
Still, no shame in being thrashed by the number one ranked Test team on their home turf.
Hmm? Oh.
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