Australia vs Pakistan: 1st Test – Day 3, cricket end of day scores, blog

After a cracking second day at the Gabba for the home side, Australia will go into Day 3 vying to totally bat out the tourists from the game. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of all the action when it commences from 11am (AEDT).

An exhausting day of Test Cricket under the Brisbane heat concluded with Australia positioned on a staggering 312 for 1, already in a lead of 72 runs.

It was one of those days when the visiting teams to Australian shores just grill under the sun, get grounded into the dirt and are left deflated and hampering for a breather or two.

A day marked with sheer Aussie dominance that was scripted by the return of one of Australian Cricket’s most favored sons to his home turf, David Warner.

The Southpaw had a torrid time in the recently-concluded English summer where he scored a total of 95 runs in the 10 Ashes innings he featured in.

On his return to his homeland since the Newlands saga, Warner put it all behind him to compile a wonderful century, his first in the format since the 2017-18 Ashes series.

His calculated and, at times, belligerent approach was way too good for a Pakistani bowling battery that is still seeking a bit of experience in the international arena.

Earlier in the day, the teenage tearaway pacer, Naseem Shah scalped Warner off an inside edge that was safely gobbled by Mohammad Rizwan behind the stumps.

Pakistan began celebrating its first prize of the series with the ball before the replays showed that the 16-year old had overstepped by a hefty margin to grant Warner a precious second chance.

From then onwards, it was Aaron-Warner and Curran-Warner all over again as he bashed and commanded his way towards the three-figure mark.

That particular illegal delivery was not the only one in the session, though. During the lunch break, it was reported that an astonishing 21 no-balls went unnoticed in the morning session.

Warner’s partner-in-crime, Joe Burns, fully supported the former as the two piled up heaps of runs to bring up a gargantuan partnership way over 200 runs.

By that time, Pakistan’s morale had depleted and they were all but hoping for a miscue or a miscalculation from either of the two well-set batsmen.

Burns finally erred and was left distraught as he was stranged by the legbreak of Yasir Shah around his legs and fell just three shy of a well-deserved century.

Marnus Labuschagne strolled in and waltzed his way to an effortless half-century, making the Pakistani bowlers toil further.

Signs of danger loom over Azhar Ali and his men as they look to stride into Day 3 for, possibly, yet another tiring day in the field.

The pitch looks a belter to bat on and Steve ‘The Invincible’ Smith is yet to grace us with his oozing masterclass.

It’s gloomy and uphill for Pakistan from here on unless there is a miraculous twist in the tale to be unleashed upon the hosts.

Australia, contrarily, will be looking to up the ante but they don’t have to rush things at all.

They have all the time in the world to play out the maximum number of overs and take their total to an unsurmountable level and then put the stranglehold on the visitors with a Day 4-Day 5 pitch that is expected to be of a somewhat different nature.

Needless to say that the morning session will be of immense importance. If Pakistan can make a couple of quick breakthroughs, they could put Australia on the backfoot and stem the flow of runs which, consequently, can pile up pressure on the home side.

Otherwise, they will keep rubber-stamping their authority on this match.

Don’t forget to join us here on The Roar for the live coverage of Day 3 at the Gabba from 11am (AEDT).

First ball: 11am (AEDT)
Venue: The Gabba, Brisbane, Queensland
TV: Live, Fox Cricket 501 and Channel 7
Online: Live, Kayo Sports, Foxtel App, Foxtel Now, Plus7
Umpires: Richard Kettleborough and Richard Illingworth
Overall record: Played 64, Australia 31, Pakistan 15, drawn 18

Australia (XI)
Joe Burns, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Matthew Wade, Tim Paine (c/wk), Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

Pakistan (XI)
Shaan Masood, Azhar Ali (c), Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan (wk), Yasir Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Imran Khan