Usman Khawaja steadied the ship alongside Steve Smith on Day 1 in Karachi bringing up his 11th Test century and third since he was re-called to the Australian team as Australia finished the day 3 for 251.
It was a special ton for Khawaja who was born in Pakistan and it came at a crucial time in the match.
Last Test Khawaja was out in the 90s and you could see how much the century meant to him.
Khawaja and Smith had a 159-run partnership before Smith fell late in the day to a superb catch by Faheem Ashraf at slip as Australia made amends for a difficult first session.
Khawaja finished the day on 127 not out with nightwatchman Nathan Lyon (0) surviving the final five deliveries of the day including giving a tough chance on the final ball to short leg.
“It would have been nice Smith there at the end,” Khawaja said.
“We had a good partnership and we’ve still got plenty of batting to come.”
It was another missed opportunity for Smith to score a century. He fell on 72 off 214 balls and his patience was something to behold with Pakistan’s negative tactics coming under fire from many including former Pakistan great Waqar Younis.
“It started to reverse a lot in the second session, made it really hard to score and then the last session they bowled pretty leg side and just some negative plans to see if we’d play some shots. We just decided not to, we didn’t want to give them any free wickets,” Khawaja said.
Earlier, Pat Cummins won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first.
He confirmed that spin bowler Mitchell Swepson would make his debut with Australia going with two spin bowlers.
Khawaja was the man of the day and he was the one to present Swepson his Test cap.
(Cricket Australia)
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great day for Marnus Labuschange.
The look of on his face in the dressing room after running himself out for a duck against Pakistan said it all.
Labuschagne became an instant meme and it’s not the first time in Test cricket for the no.1 batsman in world cricket.
It wasn’t that long ago that we had his bizarre dismissal against England where he fell over and was clean bowled.
On that occasion Marnus laughed it off on social media and joined in the fun that everyone made of the dismissal.
Judging by the look on his face it’s hard to imagine him laughing this one off – mainly because he was out for a duck and it also put his team on the back foot.
He has already copped it on social media. Here are some of the best tweets:
But he also copped it from commentator Rob Key.
The former England player made an observation about Labuschagne’s spin bowling pitch contraption that he set up at home before the series.
“As soon as he got run out the first thing I sort of thought was, what’s the point in making your own spinning thing at your house with the mats and everything and then running yourself out? He said.
Andrew Symonds later remarked: “Marnus, you can see the disappointment there on his face, yeah it’s take his shoelaces off him sort of stuff.”
Labuschagne’s dismissal came at a crucial time just before the lunch break. After losing the toss Pakistan made the ball talk and David Warner was beaten a number of times before nicking off for 36.
Full credit must go to Pakistan for keeping the pressure on when Labuschagne came to the crease. The fact they kept him scoreless for eight balls was the reason he felt obliged to take a risky single despite lunch approaching.
It’s a shame that Pakistan were so negative during the day but perhaps their tactics were designed to frustrate the Australians and make sure they didn’t get a decent total on Day 1.
The series is crying out for something dramatic to take place but on the first day’s evidence it might be another long slog for fans.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
No worries. Welcome to the club. We do try to be nice.
Laurie
Roar Rookie
I didn't mean that we doctor our pitches Rowdy. I was trying to say that every country has a general stereotype . Bounce and carry in Perth , lively greentops in Brisbane . Suits our tall Quicks . Swing and seam bowlers dominate in England .. Anderson and Broad benefit the most over there . Spinners are the matchwinners in the subcontinent after day 3 . Reverse swing on these dustbowls in Pakistan . I'm a Roar newbie , just throwing my opinion out there
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I’m agreeing with you. I was replying to Lawrence initially. He cast aspersions on Australia’s pitch prep.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
I can’t recall an example of an Australian pitch being doctored to thwart a particular opponent. The Australian pitches all seem to maintain the same individual character year to year, baring the occasional stuff up by the grounds man - and in those occasions, it’s just as likely to be to the benefit of the other side as it is for Australia. Happy to be pointed to specific examples to the contrary.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
SAM is Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I was referring to the Aussie pitches. Ofc these Paki Pitches are done so that there is little chance of a result
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
The head of the PCB admitted that the first test pitch was tailored.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
You really think they're tailored. Not from what I've seen.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
Yeah, Australian pitches don’t change according to the opponent.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
But that doesn't explain SAM. And Perth Stadium is no WACA!!! Everyone old enough knows the carnage that has happened there. And Brisbane is a good strip because every discipline is catered for. Aussie wickets are generally reflective of the weather conditions of each city.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
For some reason l thought there was only 2 days left. Great! Australia should throw the bat next. No use hanging round. I hope Lyon develops the callous on his spinning finger to a huge degree and that Swepson's wrist suffers RSI and that they can both come away with 8 wickets each. Pity we don't have a durable workhorse in the team who'd pound the ball in full.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
At least we're not celebrating some morbid remembrance of some bombing where we lost players.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
These pitches don’t suit the Pakistani attack either. They don’t support any bowling attack. They are designed to produce draws.
whymuds
Roar Rookie
No doubt a few matches in India finish on days 3 and 4 but you have failed to mention something really important - the skill and competence of visiting teams to bowl world-class spin and bat against world-class spin. In quite a few of the games that finish early in India, the home team manages 250+ scores but the visitors don't. In the past 5 years, India has won 15 games at home, and 9 of these have been by an innings. Somehow India managed to pile on a few runs in these games on these rank turners while the opposition hasn't been able to do the same. Perhaps it's a magic pitch that turns square the moment a visiting batsmen takes his guard. Pitches that give you a result - in 3, 4 or 5 days - are great for test cricket. Pitches like we had in 'Pindi will kill test cricket.
Nick
Roar Guru
You should be careful about the stone throwing at India. The Boxing day test lasted 6.5 sessions. The Hobart test last 8.5 sessions. The "pace friendly" wicket of Hobart was so absurdly pace friendly Nathan Lyon didn't bowl at all. Aside from the opening 2 sessions on day 1, it was fundamentally unplayable.
Marty
Roar Rookie
Imagine complaining about teams not touring and then when one does you serve up this rubbish. Thanks for the hospitality, we’ll be back when you learn how to play properly.
Diamond Jackie
Roar Rookie
The public there don’t appear to want to watch it either. A city of 16m people and they are getting 5000 to the ground.
U
Roar Rookie
Supporters don’t seem to be that interested either.
Laurie
Roar Rookie
Every country prepares wickets that suit their attack. Look how tough it is for visiting teams at the Gabba .. remember the WACA ? That's cricket . But it looks like this wicket is the same as the flat road served up in the first test . It doesn't give Pakistan any home ground advantage . What's the point ? Yes it's the openers job to take the shine off the new ball , but not for 2 days . The pitches look fine for a 10 day test match
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Khawaja finally got that elusive ton after 2 close calls since back in the openers seat. Well done and it's good to see him back.