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Australia claims thrilling series victory over Pakistan at the MCG at retain Benaud–Qadir trophy

Pat Cummins has become the second Australian captain in history to take 10 wickets in a Test match to inspire his side to a controversial series-winning victory over Pakistan at the MCG.

Daniel ChernyDaniel Cherny
@danielcherny
23 min read
December 30, 2023 - 11:39AM

Pat Cummins hauled Australia onto his shoulders to claim a series-clinching victory as Pakistan collapsed late on day four of the Boxing Day Test.

The tourists lost 5-18 to fall by 79 runs after the contentious departure of wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan paved the way for a feeble flop from the tail.

Seeking to mount the highest successful fourth innings chase in Tests at the MCG in 95 years, the tourists were bowled out for 237, making it 16 straight Test losses in Australia for Pakistan and ensuring Australia retained the Benaud-Qadir Trophy.

It also consigned Sydney to yet another dead rubber Test.

Cummins capped his outstanding match with the ball, finishing with match figures of 10-97 as the Aussie skipper dislodged Richie Benaud in the top 10 of Australian Test wicket-takers.

Having started the day 241 ahead, Australia tipped its lead over the 300 mark on the back of 53 from Alex Carey, his first half-century in the format since the Jonny Bairstow stumping at Lord’s in early July.

Cummins provided the sturdiest support of Australia’s tail before falling to a contentious lbw decision on 16, upheld on review by third umpire Richard Illingworth despite no mark on Hot Spot and an apparent discrepancy between a spike of Snicko and the moment the ball passed Cummins’ bat following the delivery from seamer Aamer Jamal.

Though considerably more achievable than the targets set for many touring teams in Australia over the years, the goal of 317 seemed galaxies away when openers Abdullah Shafique (four) and Imam-ul-Haq (12) fell to Mitchell Starc and Cummins respectively.

For Shafique it concluded a lamentable performance in this Test in which he also spilled two critical catches.

Pat Cummins’s incredible year continued at the MCG. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
Pat Cummins’s incredible year continued at the MCG. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

But Pakistan had talked a big game both before the series and even after being thrashed to the tune of 360 runs in Perth. They walked the walk, led by the aggression of captain Shan Masood, who took to Starc and Nathan Lyon en route to his second half-century of the match.

Cummins was another matter though, removing Shan for 60 after finding an edge snaffled by Steve Smith in the cordon. It was a 249th Test wicket for Cummins, moving past Benaud into the top 10.

The presence of Babar Azam down the other end provided hope for the tourists, but his stay ended on 41 after Josh Hazlewood got one to nibble back gently.

Saud Shakeel went for 24 after top-edging a short ball Starc to be well-taken by Carey.

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Rizwan and Salman didn’t back down though, although both almost fell in Lyon’s 14th over, with the former edging a tough chance that Carey couldn’t control, and the latter popping one that landed just beyond a lunging Smith.

Cummins was indefatigable though, making the critical breakthrough from a short-ball that Rizwan tried to evade on 35. Gough turned down the appeal, but the skipper challenged, wisely it proved. After an agonising wait, Illingworth instructed his compatriot to overturn the call, with the Pakistani wicketkeeper deemed to have brushed the ball with the trim of his glove.

Rizwan was visibly displeased as he slowly left the field after his fate was confirmed.

“I wasn’t certain. All the replays I saw, I didn’t feel with certainty that it had (hit the wristband). I think if it’s taken that many looks and that long a time, there’s probably got to be a cut-off point,” Aussie great Adam Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket.

Jamal couldn’t handle the short stuff a couple of overs later, spooning a return catch to Cummins and push play into an extra half an hour, before Shaheen Shah Afridi was helpless against the Australian captain’s missile, popping one up to short leg to clinch Cummins’ second 10-wicket haul in Test cricket.

Starc banged one in to end Salman Ali Agha’s innings on 50 before finishing it off by bouncing out Mir Hamza for a duck.

The tourists had promised pre-series to attack Lyon and the idea finally bore fruit, with GOAT going wicketless and at more than four an over.

RE-LIVE ALL THE DAY 4 ACTION

with Tim Michell

6.21PM: AUSTRALIA WINS

Mir Hamza is out first ball and the Test match is over.

Pakistan is all out for 237 and Australia wins by 79 runs.

6.19PM: WICKET! MARSH TAKES A SCREAMER

You can imagine Mitch Marsh running up the member’s wing at the MCG and crashing a pack, almost exactly what he’s done to get the ninth wicket.

Salman tried to pull Mitchell Starc and a fully-outstretched Marsh hauled in the catch just before it hit the turf.

The Aussies look like they are going to enjoy a day off.

6.15PM: TEN-WICKET HAUL FOR CUMMINS

Pat Cummins has 10 wickets in a Test match for the second time after Shaheen Shah Afridi can’t cope with a short ball.

Cummins gets one in towards the body and Shaheen knocks it straight to Marnus Labuschagne under the helmet in close.

Mitch Marsh is going to be stiff to miss out on man-of-the-match but this has been herculean stuff from Cummins.

Every time Australia has needed a leader to step up he has been there.

He's the first Australian captain since Allan Border to take 10 wickets in a Test.

6.13PM: SALMAN FIFTY

It’s pretty clear Salman knows he is the last hope now and he’s trying to up the ante.

With three wickets remaining and 79 runs needed, he gets to his half-century.

You’d think if Pakistan is going to win, he needs to double up.

5.56PM: CUMMINS HAS NINE WICKETS!

There won’t be a long stay for Aamir Jamal like in the first innings.

Jamal tries to turn a ball from Pat Cummins on the on side but gets a leading edge and is out for a duck caught and bowled.

Now the Aussies wil take the extra half an hour and try and wrap this game up tonight.

5.47PM: CUMMINS AGAIN! REVIEW DRAMA AT MCG

You could have heard a pin drop in the time it took Richard Illingworth to make a decision on that review against Rizwan.

Cummins wasn’t sure about reviewing, but sent it upstairs with only seconds left after Rizwan tried to duck a ball which rose at him awkwardly and hit his arm.

The Australians were confident the whole time but Illingworth tok 2-3 minutes to have a look at several replays before confirming Rizwan was out.

“I think there’s enough there. I think it comes straight off the wristband,” Michael Vaughan said on Fox Cricket.

“It’s come off the wristband which is attached to the hand,” Illingworth eventually ruled.

That is Pat Cummins’ 250th wicket in Test cricket.

Later, Adam Gilchrist says on Fox Cricket: “I wasn’t certain. All the replays I saw, I didn’t feel with certainty that it had (hit the wristband). I think if it’s taken that many looks and that long a time, there’s probably got to be a cut-off point.

“There’s a rather large mark on his forearm a bit further up his arm.”

5.38PM: PAKISTAN NEEDS 100 TO WIN

Rizwan bunts Lyon to long-on and the Pakistan fans are daring to dream. They couldn’t pull this off, could they?

“This is proper Test cricket isn’t it?” says Wasim Akram in commentary.

5.25PM: ARE AUSSIES GETTING NERVOUS?

This is starting to get a bit close for comfort for the Aussies.

Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha have put on 40 for the sixth wicket and the deficit is getting close to 100 runs.

Alex Carey put down a sharp chance off Nathan Lyon and then Steve Smith dropped a chance which most thought was off Salman’s bat.

But the replays show the only contact was with the Pakistan batter’s shoulder.

Will the Australians rue that miss?

“You can just sense the enthusiasm from the Australians has just been sapped out of them,” says Adam Gilchrist on Fox Cricket.

5PM: MCC OPEN TO TALKS ON LATER BOXING DAY START

Melbourne Cricket Club boss Stuart Fox says he’s open to debate about whether the start time of each day on the Boxing Day Test should be pushed back.

Crowd figures throughout this year’s match against Pakistan have shown the biggest crowds have been after midday.

About 28,000 people attended day one after the first ball as the crowd swelled from about 34,000 to 62,000.

And on day two, the figures were even more stark — about 12,000 fans at the first ball to a peak of about 44,000.

“I think you’re using the data to run a good case here and it’s hard to argue against isn’t it? I love the traditional timeslot and I love the fact that it hasn’t changed,” Fox said on SEN.

“But I think we have got to be up for the discussion and I think that data suggests that if you did sort of start around midday, you’re going to have a lot more people inside the stadium watching the game. I think that’d be really special.”

Play currently starts at 10.30am although several days of this year’s Test have been brought forward to 10am due to rain delays on day one.

4.30PM: WICKET! STARC GETS SHAKEEL, PAKISTAN ON ROPES

Australia is closing in on series-clinching victory which looks like it could be achieved today.

Mitch Starc digs one in and Saud Shakeel gets a top edge trying to angle the bal over backward point.

He’s caught by Alex Carey for 24 from 55 balls.

Salman joins Rizwan and Pakistan’s faint hopes of a momentous win are all but dashed barring a miracle.

4PM: BYE BYE BABAR — HAZLEWOOD LANDS KEY BLOW

There is the wicket Australia wanted.

Hazlewood slides one through Babar Azam’s defence and any hopes the Pakistan supporters at the MCG had of victory have taken a huge hit.

Babar made 41 from 79 balls.

“That is what he has been looking for — the one that just snakes back,” says Kerry O’Keeffe on Fox Cricket.

“The non-committed forward press from Babar. We have seen it before. Hazlewood just has this knack. He’s come back in. Babar wasn’t convinced he could get forward to it.

“It’s hit high on the stumps.”

On Channel 7, Ricky Ponting says: “They have been working away at that forever since the moment that he into the crease it has been about trying to deliver that exact ball. Try and trap him on the crease.

“Not commit far enough on the line on the front foot and provide a little gap. There is a gap there. It’s lazy again. I said it at the first innings and I’ll say it again, off-stump is visible between bat and pad and Hazlewood finds a way through. So, the dangerous Azam goes. Pakistan in trouble now.”

3.30PM: KHAWAJA’S PRAISE FOR ‘GENIUS’ CUMMINS

Teammate Usman Khawaja has hailed skipper Pat Cummins “a genius” after his key wicket of Shan Masood tipped the Boxing Day Test firmly in Australia’s favour.

The Pakistan captain and Babar Azam were building an ominous third-wicket stand when Cummins struck with his seventh scalp of the match.

“Right now, he’s a genius. He just looks horribly hard to face out there. By far the hardest bowler to face I reckon,” Khawaja told Fox Cricket.

On the state of the match, the opening batter said: “It would have been nice to get that wicket at the end. Just out of Heady’s grasp there from Mitch Marsh. Would have liked one more but I think we’re in a good position.

3.10PM: TEA — PAKISTAN 3-129

So at the last break on day four, Australia needs seven wickets and Pakistan a further 188 runs for victory.

Babar Azam was touted as the key and it’s panning out that way.

He’s 35 not out, with Saud Shakeel on 10.

After these two it’s Rizwan, Salman and the bowlers, so Babar and Shakeel will need to chew into the majority of this total for Pakistan to stand any chance of a monumental upset.

“I think they've got a chance,” says Michael Vaughan on Fox Cricket.

“It’s only a slight chance but with Babar out there on 35, Shakeel’s on 10, the partnership of 19.

“You’ve got Rizwan who played well in the first innings. He’s yet to come.

2.50PM: WARNER’S INSIGHT INTO AUSSIE MENTALITY

Joe Barton

Even before Pat Cummins’ key breakthrough with the wicket of Pakistan captain Shan Masood, there was little panic in the Australian camp.

David Warner gave an insight into the mentality of this team – which has conquered many beasts in 2023 – just before the Masood dismissal, as Pakistan were creeping towards nudging the required runs below 200 with wickets in the shed.

Despite nerves, perhaps, starting to grip some members of the MCG crowd there was no thought of letting negative feelings creep into the Australian team.

“It’s still seaming quite a bit - guys are saying if they put the ball in the right areas they’re still getting some shots out of the batsmen,” Warner told Fox Cricket.

“These two (Masood and Babar Azam) have got intent there, so we just (need to) be patient.

“Hopefully one goes between the gate like how Babar got out in the first innings.

“Then keep the line and length to Shan.”

As if on cue, Cummins landed one just short of a length and got the ball to move away from Masood – who was drawn into a shot, and offered a sharp, low chance to Steve Smith at second slip.

2.39PM: WICKET! CUMMINS AGAIN

Who else but Pat Cummins?

Just when there were a few worrying signs for the Australians, he draws a false shot out of Shan Masood who edges to Steve Smith at second slip.

Shan is out for 60 from 71 balls and the door is ajar for Australia to end this game today.

Saud Shakeel joins Babar Azam — who surely has to get a hundred now for Pakistan to be any hope.

Pakistan is 3-110 and still needs 207 runs.

“That’s the difference, the chance comes and you take it,” says Mark Waugh on Fox Cricket.

Michael Vaughan adds: “How many times is Cummins just going to produce when Australia desperately need him to?”

Cummins has match figures of 7-67 after that wicket.

2.32PM: PAKISTAN PASSES 100

Babar Azam and Shan Masood’s partnership has passed 50 and taken Pakistan’s total passed 100.

“There’s something brewing here for Pakistan,” says Kerry O’Keeffe on Fox Cricket.

“It looks a long way off but this pair are having a crack.”

2.10PM: MARNUS FELLED BY PAINFUL BLOW

That has got to hurt.

Marnus Labuschagne crumpled to the ground and will require treatment after a ball which cannoned into his left knee off a Shan Masood on drive.

Play was stopped for several minutes and drinks taken as he received treatment.

“They wil be saying, ‘come on, get up,”” says Mark Waugh on Fox Cricket.

David Warner said: “He’s fine, but that would have hurt.”

Pat Cummins and Mitch Starc check on Marnus Labuschagne. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
Pat Cummins and Mitch Starc check on Marnus Labuschagne. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

2PM: BROADCASTER CAUGHT IN UMPIRE LIFT DRAMA

Channel 7 host Mel McLaughlin was caught up in the lift drama which caused play to be delayed by six minutes yesterday.

Third umpire Richard Illingworth was one of about 12 people stuck in an MCG lift and play did not restart until fourth umpire Phil Gillespie was able to reach the third umpire’s room.

Illingworth reappeared after a few balls to take up his duties.

He revealed on Friday McLaughlin was one of the other people who became stranded.

“After lunch I decided to take the lift up because it’s quite a lot of steps. Got in the lift at the bottom on B1. Mel got in the lift with me. A make-up artist, security. We got up to the first floor then people got into the lift,” Illingworth told ABC radio.

“They got in, pressed two and three and it just went dead, the lift. I gave myself enough room to get back to the TV room, but I actually asked, ‘has anybody got a phone in here’.”

Illingworth praised the calmness of the other people in the lift.

“Slightly embarrassing to say the least, but I guess we all live with technology. That sometimes occurs with lifts,” he said.

Mel McLaughlin. Picture: Tim Hunter.
Mel McLaughlin. Picture: Tim Hunter.

1.43PM: SO CLOSE! AUSSIE REVIEW UNSUCCESSFUL

Australia has burned a review after coming close to having Babar Azam out lbw.

Josh Hazlewood hit Babar above the knee roll but the review showed it was just travelling over.

He would have been not out on umpire’s call anyway, but that was a lot closer than it looked live.

1.35PM: WICKET! CUMMINS STRIKES AGAIN

Aussie skipper Pat Cummins has taken his sixth wicket for the match, removing Imam ul-Haq lbw.

Cummins had a close shout against the left-hander turned down only minutes before the decision went Australia’s way.

Imam reviewed and although replays showed the ball hitting him above the knee roll, he was out on umpire’s call.

An unlucky blow for Pakistan which had made steady progress to be 2-49.

Now the main man Babat Azam comes in and his side badly needs a big score.

1.10PM: MELBOURNE HITS BACK AT BASIL CRITICISM

Joe Barton

For those keeping score in the battle between Victoria and Western Australia’s politicians, the deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne has hit back at Perth’s Basil Zempilas – and declared the host city of the first Test is little more than a ‘country town’.

Zempilas – the AFL commentator turned outspoken Perth mayor – has teed off this week over the Boxing Day Test crowds and declared his desire to bring day-night cricket to Australia’s westernmost capital city.

And Councillor Nick Reece – Melbourne’s deputy Lord Mayor – was having none of it when asked to respond on SEN Radio.

He believes Zempilas is simply jealous of Melbourne’s status as Australia’s sporting capital – pointing to the 63,000 who turned up for Boxing Day this week, which outnumbered the turnaround across all four days of the first Test in Perth earlier this month.

“Basil is jealous isn’t he? We all know he loves his sport, and he’s looking at Melbourne and I think he’s turned into a bit of a green-eyed monster,” Reece said.

“He’d be looking at the great crowds at the MCG, he’d be filled with jealousy and he’s bowled up a sledge that is so wide of the mark it’s a wonder he hasn’t put his shoulder out.

“He criticises us for our crowd numbers at the second Test, but we had more people attend on the first day than Perth had for (four) days of the Test.”

Reece went one step further, questioning Perth’s status as a major city and suggesting it deserved to be stripped of its Test-hosting rights ahead of next summer’s blockbuster India series.

“Melbourne is a big city, a multicultural city, we’ve got a huge Indian diaspora unlike Perth… they’re more on the country town end of the city spectrum,” he added.

“And if they struggled to fill this Test, you’ve got to ask questions about whether they’ll get the crowds along to the Australia-India Test and you’ve got to question whether maybe Perth doesn’t deserve to host an Australia-India Test next year and maybe Melbourne deserves to host two. We’ll fill it out two times over.”

LUNCH — PAKISTAN 1-25, TRAILS BY 291 RUNS

12.26PM: PAKISTAN CAPTAIN SAVED BY DRS

The MCG crowd can’t believe it after DRS shows the ball bouncing over the stumps after Shan Masood was given out lbw off Nathan Lyon.

Replays suggested the ball was travelling well over the stumps.

“Knee roll deep into the middle of the pad. Just sounded good if an lbw can sound good,” says Adam Gilchrist.

He later adds: “Enough to tear your hair out”.

If only Nathan Lyon had some.

The review which saved Shan Masood.
The review which saved Shan Masood.

12.06PM: WICKET! STARC LANDS FIRST BLOW

Abdullah Shafique is stuck on the crease trying to drive and his lack of footwork costs him dearly.

He tries to drive Mitchell Starc but gets the edge to Usman Khawaja and Pakistan is 1-8.

“His psyche is a bit flat at the moment. That was a shot he needn’t have played. It was airy fairy. Khawaja did well,” says Kerry O’Keefe on Fox Cricket.

“He must recover mentally before Sydney, Abdullah Shafique. He’s such a key.”

On Channel 7, Ricky Ponting adds: “Full and drawn into the drive wasn’t he, Shafique? Just played a little away from his body, against a good catch, a sharp catch.

“Khawaja high above his head. I think Shafique just setting up there for something potentially swings back in, it went straight on the angle. Thick edge. Well taken. Starc strikes. His nightmare game has come to an end, Abdullah Shafique.”

11.50AM: PRESSURE ON BABAR TO PERFORM

Pakistan is going to need something special from its main man Babar Azam to get close in this chase.

The world’s No.5 ranked Test batter has scores of 21, 14 and 1 in this series after being knocked over by Pat Cummins in the first innings in Melbourne.

“You’re going to need a good start,” says Michael Vaughan on Fox Cricket.

“It’s probably going to require Babar Azam to play an innings.

“He’s not looked in great touch. His record here in Australia is not overwhelming. I think it’s an average of 24 in Australian conditions.

“But he’s such a world-class performer. You feel that if Pakistan are going to get close, to this target, Babar is going to have to get a score.”

11.37AM: WICKET! AUSTRALIA ALL OUT FOR 262

Mir Hamza finishes with 4-32 after trapping Alex Carey in front.

Carey reviewed but replays showed the ball was hitting middle and leg stump.

Australia’s lead is 316 and Pakistan will need the biggest chase at the MCG in 60 years to triumph.

Earlier, former Aussie opener Simon Katich told SEN: “The biggest challenge for them will be that new ball. They weren’t able to withstand that in the second innings in Perth. They folded. They were able to do it in the first innings here. If the sun’s out and Shafique, Imam and Shan Masood, the engine room win the first 25 overs, I think they’re in the Test. If they don’t, I think Australia will run through them.”

11.30AM: LORD’S CURSE OVER? CAREY REACHES FIFTY

Alex Carey has his first Test fifty since the Jonny Bairstow stumping drama.

The Australian wicketkeeper has played a crucial hand with the tail this morning, pushing the lead to beyond 300 with his first half-century since the opening Test of this year’s Ashes in June.

Much has been made of Carey’s form since the Bairstow controversy but this has been a telling contribution with his team under pressure and the microscope firmly on his form.

“It’s a beautifully played innings. Vitally important for his team,” says Adam Gilchrist on Fox Cricket.

Michael Vaughan adds: “Just when he personally needed that score. A confidence-booster for him.”

11.10AM: WICKET! LYON SKITTLED

Aamer Jamal does Nathan Lyon for pace and the off-spinner’s 13-ball cameo is over.

Lyon helped push Australia’s lead beyond 300, with the Aussies 9-249 and leading by 303 as Josh Hazlewood joins Alex Carey.

Time for the wicketkeeper to try and launch?

11AM: CUMMINS OUT AFTER DRS DRAMA

Pat Cummins was proving a thorn in Pakistan’s side, making 16 which included a rare five.

But he has to go after replays show a small inside edge off Aamir Jamal which was taken by Mohammad Rizwan.

Interestingly, the ball appeared to have passed the bat when the biggest spike on Snicko occurred.

“This has got to do the calibration between sight and sound,” former Test umpire Simon Taufel tells Channel 7.

“Sound does travel at different speed to light. Before each day’s play, the technology providers go out and calibrate the sounds particularly and so what we’re looking for is a spike as the ball goes past the bat or up to one frame past the bat which allows that distance between the noise and the stump microphone.”

Australia is 8-237 and leads by 291.

10.40AM: MARSH’S PAIN AT MISSED HUNDRED

Mitch Marsh has conceded missing out on the chance to end his family’s long wait for a Boxing Day Test hundred “stung”.

Marsh’s brother Shaun was run out for 99 at the MCG in 2014 and his dad Geoff had a topscore of 86 at the ground in 1991.

After being dropped on 20, Mitch was four runs away from the milestone when a brilliant slips catch from Salman Ali Agha ended his innings.

“That one stung a little bit. I think myself, Shaun and dad all have nineties in a Boxing Day Test match here. It would have been nice to get a hundred,” he said after play on day three. “Obviously the personal milestones, the history of this ground, to get a Test match hundred would have been nice. But ultimately I just wanted to prolong that partnership and it would have been awesome to bat for the last hour and get us into a really good position. The game is evenly-poised.”

10.25PM: WICKET! SHAHEEN GETS STARC

Mitch Starc tries to drive Shaheen but gets an edge which carried at Babr Azam at first slip.

If only Babar had been there yesterday, he made that look easy.

Pat Cummins joins Alex Carey with the Aussie lead at 263.

Shaheen has 4-63 and has bowled impressively in this Test after questions about his pace and energy in Perth.

10.15AM: PAKISTAN NEEDS TO DEFY HISTORY ON DAY FOUR

Pakistan will have to defy 60 years of history to keep the Test series against Australia alive.

Starting the fourth day with a deficit 241 runs, Shan Masood’s side already needed to produce the best fourth-innings chase at the MCG since South Africa in 1952-53 to square the series at 1-1.

Pakistan is also trying to snap a run of 15 consecutive Test defeats in Australia which spans almost three decades.

“Hopefully us bowlers can put a couple of partnerships on there and get it up around 300,” Nathan Lyon told Fox Cricket after play on day three.

Mitch Marsh added: “I think our bowlers can bat. We’ve got a lot of faith in them. If we can sneak out another 60, 300 run lead in the fourth innings, it will be a great couple of days.”

The highest successful fourth-innings chase at the MCG was achieved by England in 1928 when it reeled in 332.

England (297, 1985), South Africa (295, 1953) and Australia (286, 1929) produced another notable fourth-innings chases to claim victories at the MCG.

‘IT’S OK’: TEAMMATE LEAPS TO SHAFIQUE’S DEFENCE

- Ed Bourke

Abdullah Shafique’s teammate has leapt to his defence after the gun opener put down a second crucial catch in the slips cordon on the third day at the MCG.

Shafique, who dropped David Warner early in Australia’s first innings before the opener went on to put on 90 runs with Usman Khawaja, spilt another regulation chance when Mitch Marsh slashed at a wide delivery off Aamer Jamal.

Australia would have been left reeling at 5-46 if Shafique had taken the catch; instead, a misfield at mid-off the following ball gifted Marsh a boundary as he blasted his way to a game-changing 96.

Shafique swapped from first to second slip with Salman Ali Agha in the final session, before Salman took a stunning catch diving to his right to remove Marsh for Mir Hamza’s third wicket.

Hamza insisted Shafique’s place was in the cordon despite his difficult tour in the field.

“Abdullah is one of the best fielders in Pakistan, and dropped catches are part of the game. It’s OK,” he said when asked if the bowlers wanted to see a change in personnel behind the wicket.

Hamza, 31, who made his Test debut against Australia in 2018 but had to wait more than four years for another chance at the top level, said his breakthrough performance to claim 3-27 from 16 overs in the second innings was a dream come true.

DO AUSSIES HAVE ENOUGH ON THE BOARD ALREADY?

Daniel Cherny

Day three hero Mitch Marsh says Australia may already have enough of a buffer to secure the second Test.

The loss of Steve Smith for 50 in the day’s final over left the Aussies at 6-187 in their second innings, leading Pakistan by 241 with two days to play at the MCG.

A victory would clinch the Benaud-Qadir Trophy with one Test to play.

Marsh, whose 96 in a 153-run stand with Smith guided the home side from a tough spot, initially quipped that 500 would be an optimal lead, before suggesting that Australia’s buffer was already a strong one.

“I think that if we were all out now we would feel very much in the game,” Marsh said.

“But I don’t necessarily want to put a number on it for our for our bowlers, but we know that they can certainly hold the bat so a couple of good partnerships with some of the bowlers now, hopefully we can get up towards the 300 mark. But yeah, I guess anything from here will take,” Marsh said.

Mitch Marsh celebrates 50 at the MCG on Day 3. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
Mitch Marsh celebrates 50 at the MCG on Day 3. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

The all-rounder said the MCG wicket was still offering plenty for the bowlers, having been ridiculed for its lack of assistance half a decade ago.

“I think it’s a great cricket wicket. I said earlier, if you look back to the MCG maybe five or six years ago, what it was to what it is now. I think Pagey (curator Matt Page) and the boys have done an outstanding job to make this an entertaining cricket wicket.

“We’re now deep into the third innings yet bowlers are still massively in the game and that bodes well for us if we can get a few more runs with our bowlers and get into them and hope there’s still enough seam movement. Certainly with a new ball (it seamed). It sort of died off a little bit around the 35-over mark I thought but there was still enough in it and I guess that’s what you want. It’s entertaining and keeps us in the game for sure.”

GILCHRIST JUMPS TO CAREY DEFENCE

Tim Michell

One of Australia’s greatest glovemen has declared criticism of Alex Carey’s form has been unwarranted.

Carey has increasingly come under the microscope in recent Tests, having averaged 12.1 runs since his controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow in the Ashes.

The 32-year-old, who has career Test batting average of 32.4, will have a chance to improve that figure when he resumes on day four with a crucial role to marshall the tail.

Adam Gilchrist said Carey had been noticeable quieter behind the stumps since the Bairstow incident, but defended the wicketkeeper’s recent form.

“I don’t feel any need to have any pressure on Alex Carey. I don’t see that there’s any extra burden or any expectation that he has to do something,” Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket.

“Twelve months ago in this very Test match he became the first Australian keeper to score 100 in the Boxing Day Test. He’s reliable.

“His opinion is highly respected within the team set-up. A number of areas. And you think the runs will come. As long as he’s doing his job with the gloves there doesn’t need to be any expectation (or) external pressure on him.”

Alex Carey has a powerful ally. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
Alex Carey has a powerful ally. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Carey was displaced by Josh Inglis during Australia’s successful ODI World Cup run, while Queensland gloveman Jimmy Peirson was behind the stumps when the Prime Minister’s XI faced Pakistan recently.

“Keeping in touch with him regularly, he seems on face value the same person, the same buoyant personality, the hard worker,” Gilchrist said.

“You can certainly rely on that. That he puts in ridiculous hours working on his glovework. Standing back, standing up to the stumps and obviously then incorporating that same ethic into his batting.”

Gilchrist said Carey, whose sole career hundred came in last summer’s Boxing Day Test, would have been disappointed to fall cheaply in the first innings in Melbourne.

“There’s some days of Test cricket when you walk out batting at No.7 that they present you with, in your mind, ‘OK, I’ve got time to get in here. I’ve got all day to bat. Or as much time as I want to have’,” he said.

“There’s other times when you’re in a bit more of a rush if the top-order has already posted 300,350. So Carey would have been frustrated with that inside edge.”

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Originally published as Australia claims thrilling series victory over Pakistan at the MCG at retain Benaud–Qadir trophy

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