Key events
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WICKET! Head b Hamza 0, Australia 16-4
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WICKET! Warner b Hamza 6, Australia 16-3
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Lunch on day three: Australia 6 for 2, leading by 60 in the third innings
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WICKET! Labuschagne c Rizwan b Shaheen 4, Australia 6-2
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WICKET! Khawaja c Rizwan b Shaheen 0, Australia 0-1
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Pakistan all out 264, Australia lead on the first innings by 54
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WICKET! Hamza st Carey b Lyon 2, Pakistan 264-10
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WICKET! Hasan Ali b Cummins 2, Pakistan 255-5
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WICKET! Shaheen lbw Lyon 21, Pakistan 240-8
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WICKET! Rizwan c Warner b Cummins 42, Pakistan 215-7
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Preamble
19th over: Australia 59-4 (Smith 12, Marsh 26) Big appeal for lbw! Marsh looked flummoxed by that steepling ball from Hasan and let it thud into his back pad above the knee roll. Umpire says NOT OUT but Pakistan review. Replays show it at leg stump height and just clipping so it’s umpire’s call. Fuming, Hasan digs one in very short and clears both Smith and ‘keeper Rizwan. It runs away for four byes. If Pakistan lose this Test, sundries will be a culprit too. They gave away 52 in the first dig and have already leaked 11 in the second. Another big Smith swish on the last but no edge this time.
18th over: Australia 53-4 (Smith 12, Marsh 25) As 37,984 spectators at the MCG and millions more around the globe buzz from that dropped catch in Aamer Jamal’s last over, Marsh continues to swing that axe with mixed results. Driving, cutting, pulling. Marsh misses them all. Finally Marsh connects with the last and gets a single.
Rowan Sweeney has emailed: “G’day Angus! I’m normally an Australian supporter so ardent I make Glenn McGrath look like a glass 3/4 empty moaner, but I really hope Pakistan can go on and get a famous victory. World cricket needs and strong and proud Pakistan; and with such a young team, this could be the sort of performance you could build a dynasty around.”
Well said, Rowan! It’s great to have a fierce Test tussle on our hands.
17th over: Australia 52-4 (Smith 12, Marsh 24) Smith rolls his wrists to Hasan’s first delivery and takes two. That’s it though. Pakistan still look stunned by Shafique’s costly fumble in the last over. It would’ve made the score 46-5. Will Marsh now unleash the beast and make them pay?
16th over: Australia 50-4 (Smith 10, Marsh 24) Dropped! First ball after the drinks break and Marsh wound up at a wider ball from Aamer and it flew to first slip Shafique who snatched at it and put it down. Second slip had a chance to take the rebound too but was too late to the party. And now a misfield from the captain adds insult to injury. It runs away for four. Wow, that grassed catch was a massive miss. Did Pakistan just drop the Test?
15th over: Australia 46-4 (Smith 10, Marsh 20) An edge from Smith! Did the catch carry to first slip? There’s a third umpire intervention but replays show a clear half volley into the hands. Good decision there by Richard Illingsworth who spent the first minutes of this session stuck in an elevator with Channel Seven’s Mel McLaughlin, a young couple with a baby and a heroic stranger who kept everyone calm by sharing his hot chips.
14th over: Australia 46-4 (Smith 10, Marsh 20) BANG! BANG! BANG! goes Marsh! Aamer Jamal, having batted brightly, rolls in for his first over of the second innings and gets flayed on balls one, two and four. The first was a cut shot that flew to the rope, the second sliced hard over the slips cordon for another boundary. The fourth ball was carved over gully. Excellent counter-attack here from Marsh who is trying to rescue Australia’s worst five-over start since the 2015 Test at Nottingham when they lost their first four batters within 16 deliveries. Aamer gets it right on the last two but Marsh is smiling and that 12-run over means Australia now lead by 100.
13th over: Australia 34-4 (Smith 10, Marsh 8) Smith clips Hasan down leg for a single. The bowler returns fire, squaring Marsh up on the second and the ball skews off the back of the blade. Frustrated, Marsh heaves at the next but misses again. He’s being deceived by Hasan’s bounce. Fourth ball is straighter but Marsh shuffles across and squirts it square to get off strike.
12th over: Australia 32-4 (Smith 9, Marsh 7) Hamza rolls in for a sixth over. He has the scalps of David Warner and Travis Head hanging from his belt and almost adds The Bison to his bag as Marsh slashes at a wider ball and misses by only a smidge. The big allrounder has shown so far he won’t curtail his natural game no matter how dire the scorecard. Her clips a single off the fifth and Smith fends through gully for three on the last.
11th over: Australia 27-4 (Smith 5, Marsh 6) Hasan Ali has replaced Shaheen Afridi and Steve Smith kinks his knees and shuffles across the line to work his first delivery away for three. Marsh is utterly undone by the next. It zips past the blade and perhaps catches the back pad. Pakistan wonder aloud whether to review but don’t. Replays show that was a bee’s doolacky from the timbers. He finishes with another ripper. Fantastic start by Hasan.Pakistan have their tail up!
10th over: Australia 24-4 (Smith 2, Marsh 6) Hamza slides another few pearlers past the flailing edge of Steve Smith who has one run from 16 deliveries faced until he glances fine for another single on the fourth. Marsh defends another one through the gap at mid-off for a couple more.
Geoff Lemon
We have a Test match! Don’t take your eyes off it. I’m going to give the knuckles a rest, it will be Angus Fontaine with you through the back of the day.
9th over: Australia 21-4 (Smith 1, Marsh 4) Oh, another false shot from Marsh. Big drive, inside edge this time, angled bat. Hard into the ground, could have played it back on so easily. Shaheen swinging it in again. Then shoots one just past the off stump! Marsh leaves. Shaheen tries the yorker, just overpitched by a couple of inches, Marsh gets down to the low full toss. Hardest full toss to play, it was still curving. Last ball of the over though, half volley, and Marsh gets going with a straight drive for four.
8th over: Australia 17-4 (Smith 1, Marsh 0) Hamza nearly gets Smith’s edge this time, swing in, seam away, just past the bat. Tremendous. Another surprises Smith with bounce at him, he jabs it down to the man at cover. Down the leg side again and Rizwan takes it marvellously, one glove. Then another ball that surprises Smith with bounce, it swings in and strikes him in the stomach before he gestures at the spot where it landed, talking himself through his own thoughts in the way that he does. Director’s DVD commentary.
7th over: Australia 17-4 (Smith 1, Marsh 0) It’s only the seventh over! Smith off the mark and off strike with his usual nudge. Shaheen goes up big time after hitting Marsh on the pad, but it’s tailing down. Then the one straight across he nearly nicks! Huge drive, no contact.
6th over: Australia 16-4 (Smith 0, Marsh 0) The hat-trick ball doesn’t work, the left-armer goes wide across Mitchell Marsh who is able to leave. Australia lead by only 70. Smith yet to score. Marsh edges into the gully, along the ground. The ball to Head (the only one) gets better with each replay, I should have pumped him up more.
WICKET! Head b Hamza 0, Australia 16-4
Ohhhhhh boy! Hamza is on a hat-trick! Fast and full, a bit of swing in, it’s not a totally unplayable yorker but it’s tricky to get first up, and Head plays across the line of it and is cleaned up!
WICKET! Warner b Hamza 6, Australia 16-3
Disastrous! Warner chops on! Plays a pull shot at a ball that wasn’t very short, the line was outside off stump. Is that the end that Starc got that one to keep low from to Shaheen earlier? This one does the same, bottom edge as he swings the bat around, back onto middle. Warner leaves the MCG in Australian colours for the last time, and gets a very generous ovation. With only 6 to his name, he doesn’t carry on with bat-waving, but turns in a circle to give a slightly sheepish thumbs-up as he crosses the rope.
5th over: Australia 16-2 (Warner 6, Smith 0) Warner is away! Drives four down the ground when the bowler overpitches. Shaheen over the wicket, still getting the odd one down leg side to the left-hander, but otherwise bowling outside Warner’s off stump. The opener leaves where he can, and takes another leg bye to end the over, this one rebounding towards cover.
4th over: Australia 11-2 (Warner 2, Smith 0) Once we finally get going, Warner drops a single to leg and Smith gets a deflection off the pad for four leg byes. Hamza the bowler.
Well, this is one of the more bizarre things I’ve heard of at the cricket. We just had a delayed start to the second session by about six minutes because third umpire Richard Illingworth got stuck in a lift.
Yep.
We shot our wrap of yesterday’s play in the MCC Library, by the way, if you want a look at that august institution. It is a true cricket nerd treasure trove in there, there’s an exhibition at the moment of some wonderful old documents, including the first dictionary to mention the word ‘cricket’, and some huge blown-up copies of the Sarfraz Nawaz scorecard from the famous 9-for.
Lunch on day three: Australia 6 for 2, leading by 60 in the third innings
Two early wickets, so Smith will begin with Warner after the break. Pakistan buoyant. Can they keep this coming?
WICKET! Labuschagne c Rizwan b Shaheen 4, Australia 6-2
3rd over: Australia 6-2 (Warner 1) Last ball before lunch, can you believe that!
They set him up for it, and it works at the last gasp. Shaheen’s second ball of the over has swing again, into Labuschagne, who manages an inside edge for four, one ball after he nearly gloves another attempt down the leg side. Slip and leg slip in place, and that’s where they want him to play. Shaheen bowls too wide of leg fro the fourth ball, then too wide of off. But with his last opportunity he gets it just on that leg stump line, and Labuschagne tries to glance but can’t catch up with the swing, edging it through and Rizwan erupts!
2nd over: Australia 2-1 (Warner 1, Labuschagne 0) Decent over from Hamza, keeps Warner quiet and makes him play at most of those balls, but can’t draw an error. Shan Masood is tweaking the field constantly. One more over until lunch.
1st over: Australia 2-1 (Warner 1, Labuschagne 0) First ball to Labuschagne, beats him handsomely too, shaping in and then seaming away from the right-hander this time. Gets too straight next ball and Labuschagne can get pad in the way outside leg stump and take an extra. Warner digs out a swinging yorker, then dabs away a single behind point.
WICKET! Khawaja c Rizwan b Shaheen 0, Australia 0-1
That’s the ideal start! Second ball of the innings, Shaheen comes left-arm over, angles it towards the stumps, swings it away, and kisses the edge of the bat. Wonderful new-ball bowling, that’s what Shaheen has struggled to achieve so far in Australia. Scrambles off the seam after it swings, at just the right length.
Australia to face a couple of overs before lunch…
Pakistan all out 264, Australia lead on the first innings by 54
Australia happy to have wrapped up Pakistan, but 54 isn’t a huge lead, the visitors have done well to haul it back to something manageable. They will still have to bowl very well to stay in this game, but that would have been the case had they been 50 in front. Batting last here will be hard. Australia in the best position, obviously.
WICKET! Hamza st Carey b Lyon 2, Pakistan 264-10
73.4 overs: Pakistan 264 (Jamal 33) Last-wicket stand, so Jamal goes laaaaarge! Charges Lyon and belts him way over midwicket for six. Not just over the rope, into the crowd. You have to hit them huge at the MCG and he does. Tries again next ball, and gets lucky. Cummins has pushed Travis Head out to that same spot, and a flat shot is spilt out there. Jamal has run a single, and may regret that, as Hamza swings at the next ball and misses. Has dragged his toe out of his ground as he gets down on one knee, and Carey has the bails off.
73rd over: Pakistan 257-9 (Jamal 26, Hamza 2) Mir Hamza gets off the mark with a sliced two. Cummins 5 for 48. Pakistan down by 61.
