Boxing Day Test: Rain halts play after openers throw away wickets

Pakistan has fought back strongly but there might not be another ball bowled on Day 1 at the MCG as rain falls under leaden skies.

Australian openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja were left to rue rash shots to throw away their wickets as showers swept through bringing play to a standstill at the MCG.

Australia was 2-114 midway through the second session when the umpires deemed the rain in Melbourne too heavy to continue, but not before Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith were put through a rigorous 45-minute examination in dim light.

Smith (2 off 26) particularly struggled as Shaheen Afridi delivered an economical five-over spell after lunch, first in dark conditions and then with the added assistance of the floodlights after 2pm.

The dismissals of Warner and Khawaja helped Pakistan save face after captain Shan Masood elected to bowl at the toss on Tuesday morning.

Umpire Joel Wilson signals for covers to be brought on to the MCG pitch midway through the second session after heavy rain hit the MCG. Picture: Robert Cianflone / Getty Images

Inconsistent bowling in the first hour led to 12 byes, none of which keeper Mohammad Rizwan had any chance of stopping, as the Australian openers reached 0-90 before Warner fell to a wild swing at a wide delivery by Salman Ali Agha on the stroke of lunch.

The 37-year-old had already been given a chance on 2 when Abdullah Shafique dropped a sitter at first slip after Warner edged an Afridi delivery into the cordon at the end of the third over.

Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith were forced to bat through a difficult period under the floodlights before play was brought to a halt just before 2.30pm. Picture: David Caird

Former Australian star Michael Hussey said Warner would deeply regret his decision to play “a loose shot” only six balls before making it to the break unbeaten alongside Usman Khawaja.

“He’ll be absolutely kicking himself,” Hussey said on Fox Cricket.

WICKET

Right on the stroke of the lunch break, David Warner departs after going after a wide one.

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— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) December 26, 2023

“That is a massive bonus for Pakistan right on the stroke of lunch.”

A strong MCG crowd of 61,228 was in their seats when rain struck, only just shading the 64,276 who attended the first day of last year’s Boxing Day Test against South Africa.

The attendance would have likely exceeded that number had the wet weather not hit, with MCC chief executive Stuart Fox saying last week he had hoped to see 70,000 on the first day.

During his innings, Warner overtook Steve Waugh to move to second on the list of all-time run-scorers across all formats for Australia, moving past 18,500 runs to trail only Ricky Ponting (27,368).

Khawaja was the more fluent of Australia’s opening pair but was also beaten plenty of times by Pakistan’s four-pronged seam attack.

Playing his first Test in Australia, Hamza looked threatening at times with the new ball but like his teammates was unable to build pressure with consistent line and length.

Afridi beat Khawaja twice with superb deliveries in the 22nd over, but repeatedly drifted onto Khawaja’s pads and went for 11 runs in the same over.

Salman Ali Agha celebrates after claiming the wicket of David Warner on the final ball of the opening session. Picture: William West / AFP

Khawaja fell half an hour after lunch when he reached for a delivery angling across him from Hasan Ali but edged to second slip, leaving Australia 2-108.

After an attendance of 64,876 for the first day of the 2022 Test against South Africa, the MCG crowd looks destined to fall short despite a healthy early turnout of close to 50,000.

Showers are expected to sweep across Melbourne before 3pm, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting up to 15mm for the city, which could potentially prevent play from returning later on the first day.

Despite only bowling seven balls of spin in the first session, Pakistan’s over rate dramatically improved from their slow performance in the Perth Test, which led to the ICC docking them two points on the World Test Championship table.