Australia vs Pakistan Day 3 match report: Aussie close in on emphatic victory

Australia will resume on day four in Adelaide in search of the seven wickets needed for victory, with a fired up Mitch Starc their likely destroyer in chief. And the pink ball prince will carry with him a blunt piece of wearable motivation.

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“F… IT! BOWL FAST!” The self-motivating message etched on Mitchell Starc’s wristband says it all.

Australia’s left-arm destroyer is sick of the hyperbole and heartache of fast bowling and has focused on simply getting back to doing what he does best.

That is - getting the ball to the other end as quickly as possible.

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“Yeah, just run in and bowl fast,” Starc said of his motto.

Pink ball Prince Starc skittled the tourists with a bustling six-wicket performance in the first innings, followed up by a night-time scalp late on day three which took him past the great Ray Lindwall to be No.11 on the Australian Test wicket-takers list.

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Wicketkeeper Tim Paine copped a nasty blow on the end of his finger which appeared to require treatment, but the captain’s aggressive decision to enforce the follow-on has Pakistan on its last legs at 3-39, with only seven wickets needed to complete the series clean-sweep.

Mitchell Starc's wristband carries an unambiguous piece of tactical advice.

After he was ridden hard by Test great and Fox Cricket expert Shane Warne last summer and then banished from Australia’s attack for all but one Test of the Ashes – Starc’s devastating comeback against Pakistan has confirmed his class.

On Sunday Starc faithfully followed the mantra he carries around as a constant reminder on his wrist – to forget everything and just bowl fast – and finished just one scalp away from claiming the best figures of his career. Now on 229 Test wickets, no one above Starc on the all-time list has a better strike-rate than his ruthless 48.6.

“I’ve always tried to keep it simple through my cricket,” said Starc.

“I got in a really clear mindset after that first Shield game of the summer. Just tinkering with a few things and keeping it pretty simple and clear and doing a lot of work with (bowling coach) Andre (Adams) back in NSW to get those really positive feelings and clear mindset. And it has seemed to pay off.

Josh Hazlewood took two wickets in the evening, including the danger man Babar Azam.

“I still think (the pink ball) is probably more like a white ball than a red ball so that’s probably playing in my favour there.

‘We’re seven wickets away from another Test match victory so another really positive day.”

Pakistan finally found some resolve on day three, with entertaining tail ender Yasir Shah scoring a magnificent 113 – the first hundred of his career – to turn the scoreboard around from 6-89 to post 302 for the first innings.

After rain abandoned play on Sunday night, Pakistan will resume their second dig on day four still needing 248 to make Australia bat again – after Josh Hazlewood (two wickets) joined Starc in putting them to the sword.

Paine grimaced his way through the day, nursing an old injury which has hampered him for at least half his career.

“I think he’s fine,” said Starc. “Keepers are pretty hard. They don’t like to see the physios.”

Starc also bulldozed Pakistan with seven wickets last week at the Gabba, and in both Tests of the series he has found himself on a hat-trick, such is the power he has to rip apart opposition batting orders.

Marnus Labuschagne had a forgettable day in the field, dropping two sitters, including Yasir off his own bowling, while a run-out opportunity was also missed by Matthew Wade and a tough stumping chance evaded Paine.

However, Starc looked unstoppable with his 6-66 including five members of the Pakistan top order – including lynchpin Babar Azam who edged to Paine to fall for 97.

Starc was criticised over everything from his body language to his potency with the red ball last summer, and despite a barnstorming World Cup, he didn’t fit into Australia’s Ashes plans.

It was a huge blow in the career of an elite fast bowler who has taken his first 200 wickets with the best strike-rate in the history of the game.

In an interview with News Corp before the summer, coach Justin Langer lauded Starc for the attitude he maintained during a trying period.

Starc will expect to run through Pakistan's tail again on day four at the Adelaide Oval.

“Mitch was absolutely brilliant. I’ve told him this behind closed doors and I’ll say it publicly, he was absolutely brilliant about it,” said Langer.

“We talk about the team and we not me and all those things, but there’s no point talking about it unless you live it and he as one of the senior players, he was outstanding.

“I was so proud. I really admired the way Mitchell Starc went about it.

“In the past, Starcy as a younger Mitchell Starc, he might have dropped his bundle a bit but I could not speak more highly of him."

Originally published as Australia vs Pakistan Day 3 match report: Aussie close in on emphatic victory