AUS vs PAK: Match in exciting situation, Pakistan needs 90+ runs to win and Australia needs three wickets.

Posted on 29th Dec 2023 by rohit kumar

The Test match being played between Australia and Pakistan in Melbourne has reached an exciting situation. Pakistan has got the target of 317 runs, in response to which the team has scored 140+ runs after losing three wickets in its second innings. Pakistan team still needs 170+ runs to win. At the same time, Australia needs seven wickets. Today is the fourth day. Currently, Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel are at the crease. Australia had scored 318 runs in its first innings. At the same time, Pakistan's first innings was limited to 264 runs. In this way, the Australian team got a lead of 54 runs. Australia's second innings was limited to 262 runs and thus their total lead over Pakistan was 316 runs.

 

The Pakistan team, which came to chase the difficult target, had a bad start. Abdullah Shafiq was out after scoring four runs and Imam Ul Haq after scoring 12 runs. After this, captain Shan Masood along with Babar Azam made a partnership of 61 runs for the third wicket. Masood played an inning of 60 runs in 71 balls with the help of seven fours. At the same time, Babar Azam was out after scoring 41 runs in 79 balls with the help of four fours. So far, captain Pat Cummins has taken two wickets for Australia. At the same time, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have got one wicket each.

 

Australia's second innings

Earlier on Friday, Australia started playing its second innings at 187 runs for six wickets and after adding 75 runs to its score, it also lost the remaining four wickets. Starc scored nine runs, Cummins scored 16 runs, Lyon scored 11 runs. At the same time, Alex Carey was out after scoring 53 runs. Hazlewood remained unbeaten after scoring one run. The start of Australia's second innings was nothing special. The team had lost four wickets for 16 runs. Usman Khawaja and Travis Head could not open the account. At the same time, David Warner was out after scoring six runs and Marnus Labuschagne was out after scoring four runs. After this, Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh made a partnership of 153 runs for the fifth wicket. Marsh scored the seventh half-century of his Test career. He missed the century and was out after scoring 96 runs in 130 balls with the help of 13 fours. Apart from this, Steve Smith returned to the pavilion as the sixth wicket after scoring 50 runs in 176 balls with the help of three fours. For Pakistan, Mir Hamza and Shaheen Afridi took four wickets each, while Aamir Jamal got two wickets.

 

Pakistan's first innings

Pakistan's first innings had a bad start. Imam ul Haq was out after scoring 10 runs. He was caught by Nathan Lyon at the hands of Labuschagne. After this, Abdullah Shafiq along with captain Masood made a partnership of 90 runs for the second wicket. Shafiq scored the fifth half-century of his Test career. Cummins broke this partnership. He took the catch of Shafiq on his ball. He was out after scoring 62 runs in 109 balls with the help of five fours. Then Cummins clean-bowled Babar Azam cheaply. Babar could score one run.

 

Captain Shan Masood scored his eighth half-century. He was out after scoring 54 runs in 76 balls. He hit three fours and one six in his innings. Both Shafiq and Babar were surprised after getting out. The video of Cummins dismissing Shafiq and Babar has surfaced. Saud Shakeel became the victim of Hazlewood after scoring nine runs. Whereas, Agha Salman returned to the pavilion after scoring five runs. Pakistan team Guruwal started playing at 194 runs for six wickets in its first innings and lost the remaining four wickets after adding 70 runs.

 

Rizwan and Jamal came on the field. There was a partnership of 45 runs between the two. Rizwan was caught by Cummins at the hands of Warner. He could score 42 runs. Whereas, Shaheen Afridi played an inning of 21 runs. Hasan Ali and Mir Hamza went to the pavilion after scoring two runs each. Aamir Jamal remained unbeaten after scoring 33 runs. For Australia, captain Cummins took five wickets, while Lyon took four wickets. Hazlewood got one wicket.

 

Australia's first innings

The Australian team had made a great start. On the first day of the Test, David Warner and Usman Khawaja made a partnership of 90 runs for the first wicket. This partnership was broken by Agha Salman. He got Warner caught by Babar Azam. Warner scored 38 runs in 83 balls with the help of three fours. Whereas, Khawaja played an inning of 42 runs in 101 balls with the help of five fours. Khawaja was caught out by Hasan Ali. Steve Smith was out on the bowling of Aamir Jamal after scoring 26 runs in 75 balls.

 

Australia started the second day at 187 runs for three wickets and lost the remaining seven wickets to score 131 runs. Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head took the innings forward. On Wednesday, the Kangaroos got their first blow in the form of head. He was out after scoring 17 runs. At the same time, Labuschagne scored the 17th half-century of his Test career. He was out after scoring 63 runs in 155 balls with the help of five fours. Mitchell Marsh played an innings of 41 runs in 60 balls with the help of six fours and one six.

 

Alex Carey was out after scoring four runs, captain Cummins after scoring 13 runs, Starc after scoring nine runs, and Lyon after scoring eight runs. Whereas, Hazlewood remained unbeaten after scoring five runs. Aamir Jamal took a maximum of three wickets for Pakistan. Whereas, Shaheen Afridi, Mir Hamza, and Hasan Ali got two wickets each. Aga Salman got a wicket.

 

Also Read: IND vs SA: 'One of the 10 best innings in Indian Test history', Gavaskar praised KL Rahul's century