Despite a historic century from veteran batsman Younis Khan, Pakistan lost a slew of key wickets during a rain affected third day’s play to hand Australia the ascendancy on Thursday (January 5) in the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
After the first session-and-a-half was lost due to rain, in an abbreviated day’s play, Pakistan reached stumps at 271 for 8, with Younis on an unbeaten 136 and Yasir Shah unbeaten on 5. They trail Australia by 267 runs, who made 538 for 8 before declaring in their first innings.
After scoring his maiden ton in Australia, Younis became the first batsman to score a century in every Test playing nation and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but his indefatigable innings was undone by some meek batting from his teammates, as Pakistan lost 112 for 6 wickets, after being in a good position at 152 for 2.
Earlier, frustratingly, persistent drizzle halted play for four hours before finally starting at 2.35 pm local time. There was drama from the get go with Matthew Wade, Australian wicketkeeper, going off the ground unwell with nausea and diarrhoea, meaning Peter Handscomb, in his fourth Test, had to take over behind the stumps.
Continuing on from a stellar summer, Josh Hazlewood (2 for 51 from 23 overs) bowled immaculately from the start and was desperately unlucky not to have trapped Azhar Ali (71) in the third over of the day. The Decision Review System (DRS) upheld the umpire’s call, although the review showed the ball was hitting the top of the leg stump.
Azhar and Younis were making batting look easy on an unresponsive pitch as their long partnership seemed likely to get Pakistan back into the contest. Much like late on day two, bad running appeared the only flaw of the stand and, fatally, it reared when Azhar was slow to react to Younis’s call for a sharp single, and was well short of his ground after Mitchell Starc’s flat throw to Handscomb.
It was a disappointing end to a gritty 146-run partnership and the nature of the dismissal threatened to undo the rearguard fightback. After a torrid series, yielding just 20 runs, speculation is rife that this is Misbah-ul-Haq’s final Test but, unlike previous innings, the Pakistani captain was able to get through the early stages and appeared far more comfortable at the crease.
However, in the second over after tea, an impatient Misbah holed out, attempting to smash Nathan Lyon’s offspin, leaving Pakistan in a vulnerable position. At the other end, Younis kept plugging away as he inched closer to his coveted century and a place in the record books.
There was no nervous nineties for the composed Younis, who skipped down the pitch and elegantly stroked Stephen O’Keefe for a straight six. However, he had to wait a little longer for his ton as Asad Shafiq (4) was caught brilliantly by a one-handed Steve Smith after the No.6 inside-edged an O’Keefe delivery, which bounced off Handscomb.
Despite the calamity at the other end, Younis remained imperious and swept Lyon to the boundary to notch his 34th Test century. In the last hour before Stumps, Starc struck with the new ball by removing wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed (18), who edged one to slip.
As Stumps approached, Mohammad Amir, not showing the pluck defining his batting during the opening two Tests, was dismissed after hitting Lyon straight to mid off. Moments before the end of the day’s play, Lyon struck again when he bowled Wahab Riaz with a perfect offbreak to end a disappointing final session for Pakistan, who have looked relatively disinterested since losing in a heartbreaking fashion at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Rain is forecast for days four and five but whether or not it can save Pakistan from a series whitewash remains to be seen.
Brief Scores: Australia 538/8 decl. (Matt Renshaw 184, David Warner 113, Peter Handscomb 110; Wahab Riaz 3-89) lead Pakistan 271/8 (Younis Khan 136*, Azhar Ali 71; Nathan Lyon 3-98, Josh Hazlewood 2-53) by 267 runs.
 in the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).){kind=link}