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On the first day of his final Test, retiring batsman
David Warner made it through a challenging last over. At Sydney, Aamer Jamal,
who came in at number nine, led Pakistan’s comeback with a valiant
half-century, leaving Australia upset.
After Pat Cummins collected his third consecutive
five-wicket haul, Jamal’s 82 off 97 balls and his last wicket partnership of 86
with Mir Hamza propelled Pakistan to an unexpected first innings of 313 runs.
Before stumps, Australia’s openers Warner and Usman
Khawaja had one more over to go. A parade of honour from the Pakistani squad
and a standing ovation from the 33,905 spectators at the SCG marked Warner’s
112th and last Test match.
Warner had a stressful moment when he nearly played
the ball onto his stumps as Australia went into stumps at 6 for 0, still behind
Pakistan by 307 runs. Warner had blasted offspinner Sajid Khan for a four
through covers on the opening delivery.
Prior to this, Pakistan had collapsed to 47 for 4,
apparently unable to capitalise on winning a crucial toss from captain Shan
Masood under ideal circumstances.
However, Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman managed to
make a comeback with impressive half-centuries. Before tea, they both fell in
the midst of another wave of wickets for Pakistan as batting got harder due to
heavy cloud cover.
But when Jamal and Hamza recorded the greatest
tenth-wicket stand in Test history against Australia—since England’s Alec
Stewart and Andy Caddick combined for 103 in 2001—Pakistan gained an
unanticipated boost. They defied Australia brilliantly for over ninety minutes
as Jamal tore apart their increasingly disjointed attack, while Hamza
stonewalled and only scored on his 22nd ball faced.
Pakistan’s chances of amassing a respectable total
appeared to have vanished when Rizwan fell for a short-ball strategy expertly
played by Cummins and Mitchell Starc, with the score at 88 seconds before tea.
Impatient Sajid was taken out by Cummins, who made him fall into the trap and
hit straight to front square.
Before Starc tamely dismissed Salman for a duck, the
batsman had withstood a torrent of short deliveries to achieve his second
consecutive half-century. Cummins, however, finished with 5 for 61 off 18
overs.