Pakistan vs Australia First Test – The Liebke Ratings (part two)

After both teams had batted once in the First Test between Pakistan and Australia, the Australians were in grave trouble. And things only got grave troublier from there. Here are the ratings from the last two days of the Test.

AHMED SHEHZAD
Grade: D

Heading into Day 4, Pakistan had a lead approaching 200, with ten wickets in hand. Australia’s plan seemed to be to not dismiss the batsmen in an attempt to make Pakistan worry that it was still an excellent batting track and thereby convince captain Misbah ul-Haq to delay his declaration as long as possible.

Despite O’Keefe carelessly taking the wicket of Azhar Ali, this cunning strategy was otherwise followed to perfection. Opener Ahmed Shehzad, in particular, was not dismissed in very emphatic fashion as Australia’s bowling attack worked brilliantly together to ensure Shehzad’s wicket was skilfully not taken all the way to a century, his second in Test cricket.

With Shehzad having fallen into Clarke’s trap, Siddle tightened the screws, tricking the Pakistan opener into smashing twenty runs off his thirteenth over. At this stage, the pitch looked very easy to bat on indeed and captain Misbah-ul-Haq must have been deeply concerned about the timing of his declaration.

Eventually, Shehzad came to his senses and allowed O’Keefe to trap him LBW for 131. He walked off to massive crowd adulation (or Shehzadulation if you prefer) but deep down, he must have known that the Australians had outmanoeuvred him.

PAKISTAN DECLARATION
Grade: B+

Just as the Australian brains trust had hoped, Misbah’s decision on when to declare had become a difficult one. Based on past performances, a safe total for the Pakistan team would have been somewhere between 15 and 900 runs, and Misbah seemed determined to settle for a total closer to the top end of that range.

Not only did Misbah allow Shehzad to bat on and reach his foolish ton, he also gave Younus time to make his second century of the Test, too. Inexplicably, however, he decided to declare with Sarfraz on 15, a mere 85 runs short of his hundred. Would it have been so difficult to give Sarfraz another four or five overs to allow him time to match Younus’s dual century milestone?

Or, alternatively, given the back to back Tests, why not turn the series on its head and simply let Younus and Sarfraz bat until the close of play on Day Five? See if they could amass twin quintuple centuries as the Dubai sun completely vaporised the Australian attack.

(Confession: the previous paragraph may have been a barely disguised pipe dream I concocted to justify Glenn Maxwell opening the bowling for Australia in the Second Test.)

Of course, Sarfraz wasn’t the only player robbed by Misbah’s declaration. O’Keefe, too, was denied the chance to join Laker and Kumble in taking ten wickets in an innings as a result of the Pakistan captain’s selfishness. Unlucky for the debutant.

AUSTRALIA’S RUN CHASE
Grade: D

Australia were set 438 to win in a little under four sessions. Didn’t seem that difficult to me. Heck, I’ve seen teams make 438 in 50 overs. (Where, by ‘seen’, I mean ‘watched on in disbelief and ever-growing horror’.)

However, even allowing for the absence of Mick Lewis from the Pakistan bowling attack, Dave Warner seemed in no doubt that the target was achievable. In media reports earlier in the day, he’d stated that ‘no total’ was too many to chase. Which was both a remarkable display of confidence and a grave misunderstanding of the infinite span of the natural numbers.

But what was the alternative? The Australian government’s ongoing failure to pass immigration laws that would force Faf du Plessis to become an Australian citizen meant a draw was unlikely. Besides, drawing a Test isn’t the Australian way. It’s a well known fact that you can’t spell ‘cowardice’ without ‘draw’. (Or, for that matter, ‘coice’.)

So an uncowardly Australia charged off in pursuit of the target. For about 13 overs. Then Warner was out, stumped, and a succession of nightwatchmen (Doolan, Clarke, Lyon) came and went cheaply before Smith and Rogers saw out Day Four.

ZALFIQAR BABAR AND YASIR SHAH
Grade: A-

After the first hour’s play on the Fifth Day, Australia had lasted about an hour longer than most people expected. But then Rogers was skittled by a reverse swinging yorker from a Pakistan seamer (soooo 90s), and it was back to the Pakistan spinners, Zalfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah to resume their destruction of Australia.

Steve Smith seemed more or less comfortable against the pair, but his inability to farm the strike and face every ball for the remaining two and a half sessions meant it was unlikely Australia would survive much beyond lunch. Even more so when Marsh and Haddin both went cheaply.

Instead, in the post-lunch session, catches began being dropped as Pakistan did their very best to Pakistan the Test. However, Australia’s Australianing of the Test was not to be denied, as even Smith eventually fell to the leg spinner. Johnson tonked on to bring up a fifty and stake a claim for the number three batting spot in the Second Test. But the Australians were eventually bowled out shortly after tea to give Pakistan victory by 221 runs, the two spinners having taken nine wickets in the second innings.

With such a comprehensive defeat, the Australian team must surely be wondering where to now from here?

And, uh, it’s Abu Dhabi on Thursday, apparently. See you there.