Australia v Pakistan: Nathan Lyon one wicket short of 500, Aussies lead by 300 in second innings
Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith copped painful blows as Pakistan turned to short-pitched bowling to try and fight its way back into the first Test. RECAP DAY THREE.
Nathan Lyon was made to wait at least another sleep for his 500th wicket Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith endured injury scares as Pakistan provided violent resistance late on day three at Optus Stadium.
Opting not to enforce the follow-on after securing a 216-run first innings lead just before tea, the Aussies lost the early wickets of Warner for a duck and Labuschagne for two, providing the tourists with a flicker of hope of what would be a highly improbable win. At stumps Australia was 2-84 in its second innings, leading by 300, with Smith on 42 and Usman Khawaja on 34.
DAY TWO RECAP: MARSH FALLS SHORT OF TON, PAKISTAN FIGHTS
Warner – who made 164 on day one – and Labuschagne both fell to short balls from seamer Khurram Shahzad. Labuschagne had earlier been tended to by Australian team medical staff after copping a nasty blow to his right hand from the Pakistani debutant.
Khawaja and Smith consolidated for the Aussies although the former captain copped a back of a length ball to his forearm on 41 and was also looked at by the medicos.
That came after Lyon was left stranded on 499 scalps when Pakistan’s No. 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi skied one from part-timer Travis Head.
But the veteran off-spinner still made an excellent return to the Test arena, taking 3-66 to the leading wicket-taker in the format this year despite missing three and ½ Tests in England with his serious calf injury.
The decision review system also came under fire after Australian skipper Pat Cummins was denied a wicket by technology during the middle session.
The Aussies were left frustrated however when an lbw decision that initially sent all-rounder Agha Salman packing was overturned.
Salman was on 10 when an inswinger from Cummins struck the Pakistani No. 8 in-line after pitching outside off-stump. However for the second time in as many days, umpire Richard Illingworth was compelled to reverse his call when DRS showed the ball was sliding down the leg side.
Darren Berry, the former Victorian captain, South Australian coach and Australian Ashes tourist, did not hold back in his view of the decision.
“DRS give me a break every year. What a joke. The Diabolical Review System,” Berry wrote on social media website X.
Despite the setback, Australia still built a massive first innings lead as Mitch Marsh showed his all-round worth by claiming the key wicket of Babar Azam.
Responding to the Aussies’ 487, Pakistan resumed at 2-132 but lost nightwatcher Shahzad in the first over after he played all around a Cummins delivery. Shahzad had been lucky to get that far after almost being run out from the day’s first ball.
With Babar and Imam-ul-Haq digging in, Marsh backed up his first innings 90 by drawing the edge from the Pakistani trump card to remove the ex-skipper for 21.
Imam withstood almost 200 deliveries for his 62 but then went dancing down the wicket to be beaten by Lyon, with Alex Carey’s stumping securing the off-spinner’s 498th Test scalp.
Mitchell Starc got in on the act, sending Sarfaraz Ahmed’s off-stump tumbling for three before Saud Shakeel (28) and Faheem Ashraf (nine) fell to short balls from Josh Hazlewood and Cummins respectively while Lyon claimed his 499th Test wicket via a line-ball stumping of Aamer Jamal.
True to reputation, the difference between the best and worst of Starc was immense, with the left-armer spraying the second new ball to the extent that he was replaced by his skipper after just two overs.
One ball was so errant that it revived memories of Steve Harmison’s infamous Ashes-opener in late 2006.
While ever popular in his home state, Marsh told Fox that the true test of whether he had won over the Australian public would come in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, where Marsh was mercilessly booed when he came onto bowl in 2018.
“We’ll find out at the MCG next week. That will be the big test,” Marsh said.
“It’s been incredible. It obviously helps when the team has a lot of success and you’ve been able to contribute and play a part in that. I’m absolutely loving it.
“Hopefully everyone around Australia can get around us and me throughout the summer.”
Marsh said that being aggressive had helped his batting in recent times.
“I really found, certainly over the last 12-18 months, that I have kind of found a method for me that works both skill-wise and probably more so just mentally,” the all-rounder said.
DAY 3 LIVE COVERAGE
with Tim Michell
8.52PM: STUMPS — AUSTRALIA 2-84, LEADS BY 300 RUNS
Australia is in a dominant position after three days and will have every chance of closing out this Test on the fourth day.
Steve Smith says if Australia can bat well in the first session tomorrow, if will give Pat Cummins and Andrew McDonald a chance to make a declaration call.
To be honest, 300 is probably enough the way the pitch played during Australia’s second innings.
That’s it for our blog today — thanks for following. Like Usman Khawaja diving forward at square leg today, I’ll catch you tomorrow.
8.43PM: SMITH STRUCK BY AFRIDI
Steve Smith is being assessed after being struck on the forearm by Shaheen Shah Afridi as Pakistan’s short-bowling tactics continue.
“Just got more flesh than bone I think, luckily,” Mark Waugh says on Fox Cricket.
Michael Vaughan suggests there might be some gamesmanship involved as Australia looks to head to stumps at two wickets down.
There will likely only be one more over after Shaheen’s.
Now Smith cops a nasty one on the arm right before stumps. He's being looked at out in the middle #AUSvPAKpic.twitter.com/V79oxjqF7m
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 16, 2023
8.33PM: PAKISTAN TURNS TO ‘BODYLINE’ TACTIC
Pakistan’s quicks have reverted to short-pitched bowling late on day three as they try to break the Smith-Khawaja union.
Shaheen Shah Afridi almost caught Steve Smith out in the 29th over, but his hook short sailed just over Imam-ul-Haq who had come in a few metres from the fine leg boundary.
Jamal is back into the attack as well and his first ball was called a wide it went so high over Usman Khawaja.
8.25PM: SMITH, KHAWAJA BUILD TOWARDS 300 LEAD
Pakistan’s stingy start has been extinguished as Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith push Australia into an even more commanding position.
The pair has now put on more than 60 runs after coming together when Australia was 2-5.
“Khawaja and Steve Smith have hung in there and they’re just starting to play quite nicely,” says Michael Vaughan on Fox Cricket.
8PM: KHAWAJA — I WAS WORRIED FOR MARNUS
Usman Khawaja says he was concerned for Marnus Labuschagne’s wellbeing due to his reaction after being struck on the hand by Khurram Shahzad.
Labuschagne required treatment and was in obvious discomfort but batted on before being dismissed for two off 18 balls.
“It didn’t look pretty. Marnus is a pretty tough character,” Khawaja told Fox Cricket.
“When he takes his glove off and starts to do that, I get a little bit worried because he’s a pretty tough guy. But I think he was all right. It might have been a bit of Foxtel, a bit of TV work there.”
Labuschagne was shown being assessed in the changerooms and did not appear comfortable.
7.35PM: SLOW GOING AS AUSSIE LEAD BUILDS
Australia’s lead is nearing 250 runs as Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith try to navigate a tricky period in the last session of day three.
Adam Gilchrist says on Fox Cricket there’s “tennis ball-like bounce” which has emerged in Perth and given Pakistan’s bowlers a boost.
6.57PM: LABUSCHAGNE GOES
Shahzad is on the money again with another short ball, catching Labuschagne out.
The Aussie No.3 can only nudge the ball in the air to wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Australia is 2-5 after 7.2 overs and the Perth pitch is causing all sorts of chaos with plenty of steeping bounce.
There’s even a bit of the old WACA about it!
“If you’d just arrived at this venue, you’d think Pakistan was domianting the game,” Michael Vaughan says on Fox Cricket.
This is first time in the 21st century that Australia have failed to reach 10 in the first 10 overs of the innings in a Test match. Shows how well Pakistan have bowled so far. #AusvPak
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) December 16, 2023
6.45PM: MARNUS COPS PAINFUL BLOW
Marnus Labuschagne is receiving treatment after a painful blow on his hand.
Shahzad — who earlier removed David Warner — got another ball to rise which slammed into Labuschagne’s hand which was holding the bat.
“The grass is hiding it, but there is a crack there,” says Ravi Shastri on Fox Cricket.
This pitch is playing some serious tricks.
The good news for Australia is that despite being in some discomfort, Labuschagne is batting on.
6.25PM: WARNER GONE FOR A DUCK
That wasn’t in the script.
Shahzad digs a short ball in which rises sharply, cramps David Warner and he lofts it straight to Imam-ul-Haq.
Warner is out for a duck in his last Test innings in Perth.
4.02% of all centuries are accompanied by a duck in the other innings....
— Ric Finlay (@RicFinlay) December 16, 2023
Australian cruising to victory in this game , Bat for a bit and give
— Darren Lehmann (@darren_lehmann) December 16, 2023
The bowlers a rest then bowl them out. 1-0 unless weather . 3-0 unless Pakistan improve with bat and ball? Thoughts ? 🤷â€â™‚ï¸ #AUSvPAK@cricketcomau@FoxCricket
David Warner's only Test duck against Pakistan #AUSvPAK
— Tim Michell (@tim_michell) December 16, 2023
5.57PM: LYON MISSES OUT ON 500
There was a bit of stunned silence in the crowd as Travis Head takes the last wicket to leave Nathan Lyon stranded on 499.
Lyon had a couple of close calls as he looked to join Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath in Test cricket’s 500 club but will have to wait until at least the second innings of this match now.
Australia will bat again after opting not to enforce the follow-on, but you sense Lyon will get his chance late tomorrow.
5.37PM: LYON ONE FROM 500 AFTER CAREY’S SHARP WORK
Alex Carey catches Aamir Jamal on the crease by millimetres and earns Nathan Lyon his 499th Test wicket.
Can the GOAT get there in the first innings?
Only one wicket left and Kerry O’Keeffe suggests bringing Usman Khawaja on for an over.
5.35PM: DRS UNDER FIRE AFTER CUMMINS DENIED
Daniel Cherny in Perth
The decision review system again came under fire after Australian skipper Pat Cummins was denied a wicket by technology on day three at Optus Stadium.
Nathan Lyon edged closer to the 500-Test wicket milestone while Mitch Marsh showed his all-round worth by claiming the key wicket of Babar Azam but Pakistan refused to fold, keeping the Aussies in the field past the midway point of the first Test.
The Aussies were left frustrated however when an lbw decision that initially sent all-rounder Agha Salman packing was overturned.
Salman was on 10 when an inswinger from Cummins struck the Pakistani No. 8 in-line after pitching outside off-stump. However for the second time in as many days, umpire Richard Illingworth was compelled to reverse his call when DRS showed the ball was sliding down the leg side.
Cummins has got the in-swinger doing too much! Salman overturns the decision on review #AUSvPAKpic.twitter.com/0H5Vpu3NgS
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 16, 2023
Darren Berry, the former Victorian captain, South Australian coach and Australian Ashes tourist, did not hold back in his view of the decision.
“DRS give me a break every year. What a joke. The Diabolical Review System,” Berry wrote on social media website X.
Despite the setback, Australia was still on track for a massive first innings as Pakistan lost steady wickets on Saturday.
5.08PM: CUMMINS GETS ASHRAF, AUSSIES CLOSE IN
Pat Cummins gets his reward for a brilliant spell, getting the wicket of Faheem Ashraf.
Ashraf tried to pull a short ball but made poor contact and the ball ballooned toward Usman Khawaja at square leg.
Khawaja did well to throw himself forward and pull in a diving catch.
Two more wickets for Australia to get and the lead is still more than 240 runs.
4.40PM: HAZLEWOOD GETS SHAKEEL
Josh Hazlewood produces a brute of a ball to get Saud Shakeel.
He cramped the left-hander for room with a ball that rose on him, catching the glove before ballooning to David Warner and slip.
And the beauty was Michael Vaughan had just pointed out that the slips were yet to take a catch after 86.2 overs.
Commentators curse.
4.25PM: STARC BOWLS ‘A HARMISON’
Poor Steve Harmison.
The former English quick must cringe every time a bowler delivers a wide so bad that his infamous Ashes opener is referenced.
On this ocassion, Mitch Starc produced a wide which evaded Alex Carey, landing closer to second slip than the Aussie keeper before rolling away for five wides.
In truth, the ball almost missed the pitch out of Starc’s hand.
It has been a wayward start from the left-armer with the new ball and he was lucky to get away with another very wide ball earlier.
“That’s a Steve Harmison type situation there,” says Mark Waugh on Fox Cricket.
“Wouldn’t want to be silly mid-off. (That would) graze your knee cap.”
Starc left the field not long after, leading Adam Gilchrist to say he hoped the quick did not have an injury concern.
4.10PM: MARSH REVEALS HUGE MINDSET SHIFT
From thinking most of Australia hated him to being one of the country’s most loved cricketers.
It’s been a wild few years for Mitch Marsh.
When Fox Cricket’s Mark Howard suggested the public perception had shifted markedly in Marsh’s favour, he said there was still one fanbase he needed to win over.
“We’ll find out at the MCG next week. That will be the big test,” Marsh said.
“It’s been incredible. It obviously helps when the team has a lot of success and you’ve been able to contribute and play a part in that. I’m absolutely loving it.
“Hopefully everyone around Australia can get around us and me throughout the summer.”
Marsh said playing with greater freedom and being positive were the biggest changes he had made to resurrect his Test career.
“I really found, certainly over the last 12-18 months, that I have kind of found a method for me that works both skill wise and probably more so just mentally,” Marsh said.
“Being nice and positive, showing really good intent and using my power and strength to try and put pressure on the bowlers.
“When I first started playing Test match cricket I allowed bowlers to bowl to me and it was all about survival. That’s a really natural thing when you’re a young kid. You earn your baggy green cap and you just want to be a part of it. But probably there’s different pressures that come with that.”
3.24PM: LUNCH — PAKISTAN 6-203
A chaotic start and finish to the first session of day three.
After a run out chance on the first ball of play, the last 40 minutes of the session yielded three wickets to leave Pakistan on the ropes.
Saud Shakeel and Salman Ali Agha have a huge job to keep Australia’s bowlers at bay with only the bowlers left after this pair.
The new ball is due in two overs as well.
3.12PM: SARFARAZ SKITTLED
Mitch Starc has gone through Sarfaraz Ahmed’s defence with a brilliant inswinger just before lunch.
With the new ball coming just after lunch, Pat Cummins might have to think seriously about whether he wants to enforce the follow on with Pakistan 6-195.
That does seem unlikely though with the bowlers set to get through more than 80 overs in the first innings.
“They have resisted really well … but you get the sense they are just starting to crumble,” says Mike Hussey on Fox Cricket.
3.07PM: IMAM UL-HAQ STUMPED
Imam-ul-Haq worked so hard for 198 balls, only to throw his innings away just before lunch.
The Pakistan opener tries to go after Nathan Lyon, who beats him in flight and pulls back his speed, allowing Alex Carey to complete a simple stumping.
“Perhaps a loss in concentration so close to lunch,” says Mike Hussey on Fox Cricket.
Wasim Akram adds: “There was no need for that shot.”
Pakistan has been resolute for much of the 75 overs but at 5-192 is now in a serious spot of bother.
Nathan Lyon has 498 Test wickets.
Block and leave for five hours and then go out dancing down the wicket. Odd.
— Daniel Cherny (@DanielCherny) December 16, 2023
2.45PM: MARSH GETS THE KEY WICKET
It just had to be Mitch Marsh.
The WA crowd roars as their hometown favourite removes Babar Azam for 21, caught behind by Alex Carey.
It was a strange shot by Babar, who poked outside off stump without any real conviction and presented Carey with an easy catch.
“There was no commitment to this shot from Babar,” says Michael Vaughan on Fox Cricket.
That’s a huge wicket in the context of this match with the new ball due in less than 10 overs.
You sense the Aussies will be baying for blood now.
2.40PM: O’KEEFFE THROWS SHOCK NAME INTO OPENING MIX
Kerry O’Keeffe has thrown a shock name into the mix to replace David Warner who only made his first-class debut two weeks ago.
O’Keeffe said he considered 18-year-old New South Welshman Sam Konstas a future Test player, but expects Prime Minister’s XI centurion Matthew Renshaw to partner Usman Khawaja in the West Indies series next month.
“Australia has found the six. They’ll look for the opener. The contenders are Bancroft, Harris, Renshaw,” O’Keeffe said on Fox Cricket.
“Head will stay at five, Cameron Green is a puncher’s chance, I doubt whether they’ll use him at the top. I would consider him strongly.
“As I’ve said before the smoky is teenager from New South Wales, Sam Konstas. But immediately, it will probably be Renshaw. I’ve had a long think. He’s impressed for Australia A, he deserves another crack at Test cricket.”
O’Keeffe also said Mitch Marsh was a “perfect” No.6 and should not be elevated.
2.08PM: FIFTY FOR PAKISTAN OPENER
Imam-ul-Haq reaches 50 from 162 balls, the equal-second slowest half-century by a Pakistan batter in Australia.
I know those craving entertaining batting won’t have loved his innings, but I’ve enjoyed the resolve Imam has shown.
Wasim Akram says he has as well on Fox Cricket, praising Imam’s application.
2PM: CAREY EXPLAINS BIZARRE RUN OUT MISS
Daniel Cherny in Perth
Alex Carey insists his missed run out of Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique on day two of the first Test was not a “spirit of cricket” reaction to the Jonny Bairstow incident at Lord’s.
Less than six months on from the controversial stumping of Bairstow during the Ashes, Carey again raised eyebrows with his work behind the stumps on Friday.
Pakistan opener Shafique had blocked a Nathan Lyon delivery to Marnus Labuschagne at short leg, who have a lookaway throw to Carey.
The Australian gloveman gestured as though about to take the bails off but ultimately didn’t do so. As it turned out, Shafique had lifted his foot around the instant Carey made contact with the stumps, meaning the batter would likely have been run out had Carey dislodged the bails.
Ultimately it mattered little as Lyon removed Shafique only a couple of overs later.
But Channel 7 commentator Greg Blewett questioned whether Carey had decided against making the run out so as not to reprise any of the drama from the Bairstow incident, a moment that split the cricket world.
“And when you take it back to the Ashes and the Bairstow incident and I just wonder whether he thought, ‘Is it worth going there again?’” Blewett had pondered on air on Friday.
However speaking before play on Saturday on day three, Carey rejected a suggestion that the “spirit of cricket” had shaped his action.
“No. If there’s an opportunity to take a run out or a stumping you do that. I had my hand on the stump, missed the bail on the way back up,” Carey told SEN.
“ (Labuschagne) tossed the ball back to me. Had my hand on the stump and sort of made the decision not to take the bail as his foot come up. And I guess once you make the decision it’s hard to take the bail from there. So split-second stuff.
“My momentum was coming away from the stump at the time.”
Former international umpire Simon Taufel explained on Seven that run out would have been fair.
“You do not need to be attempting a run to be run out,” Taufel said. “The law was changed about six years ago to provide some special protection to a batter to prevent them from being run out from accidental loss of contact once they had with the ground.
“That protection is only afforded when they’re running or diving back into their crease. That was not the case here.
“So if that foot was in the air when the bail is taken off by Alex Carey in that situation right there, then the batter is run out.”
1.40PM: CAN AUSSIES GET BABAR, BREAK PAKISTAN RESISTANCE?
Babar Azam always loomed as the key wicket and his early arrival on day three has given Australia a golden opportunity to expose Pakistan’s middle and lower-order.
One of the top-ranked Test batters in the world, Babar averages 44.4 against Australia and scored a century and 97 when Pakistan last toured in 2019.
“Hopefully he’ll come out and he’ll come out positive. Captaincy has been taken away from him and he looked very relaxed,” Pakistan legend Waqar Younis told Channel 7.
“I think that will really help him going forward. He’s a class act we can’t really wait to see him bat out there.”
Ricky Ponting pinpointed one area where Babar must improve.
“He’s class. Simple as that. You look at his overall record – he probably hasn’t made the hundreds that you would expect of such a quality player. I think he’s got nine hundreds and 26 fifties in 49 games. That’s the area of his game that he will want to change and want to improve,” he said.
1.22PM: WICKET FALLS, CRAZY RUN IN CHAOTIC START
Pat Cummins has taken three balls to break through on day three with his first wicket, skittling nightwatchman Khurram Shahzad.
It came two balls after Shahzad was almost ran out on the opening deliver of the day when Imam-ul-Haq called him through for a sharp single.
Travis Head had three stumps to hit but missed, gifting Shahzad a life.
Not that it cost Australia in the end thanks to a ball from Cummins which would have been too good for many batters, let alone a nightwatchman.
Mark Waugh described the calling from ul-Haq as “horrendous”.
“It should have been (a run out),” Waugh said on Fox Cricket.
“That was just a horrendous call from Imam-ul-Haq first ball.
“Shahzad was just getting himself together at the nonstrikers end, he wasn’t even thinking about a run.
“And it really should have been out. He had a good look at the stumps there, Travis Head.
“That’s comical, that running.”
CA PUSHING TO PROVIDE GREATER FIXTURE CERTAINTY
Daniel Cherny
Cricket Australia wants to lock away a long-term order for the home Test summer, but whether Perth or Brisbane ends up at the front of the queue remains to be seen.
A combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and a later start to the current Test series against Pakistan because of the World Cup pushing deep into November has made for a disjointed calendar in recent summers, with the long-time rhythm of a start at the Gabba in November culminating with the SCG Test in early January being disrupted.
But with border closures no longer an issue, and with CA being given an indication from the ICC about the likely composition of the Future Tours Program stretching through to 2031, CA wants to end the annual uncertainty around the Test calendar.
Brisbane had been the traditional first-Test venue through much of the 1990s and 2000s however its grip over the season-starter has loosened over the past decade.
Complicating the situation further is the fact the Gabba will be out of action after the Ashes Test in late 2025 for four years as part of its redevelopment ahead of the 2032 Olympics.
A replacement Test venue in Queensland during the intervening years is yet to be confirmed.
Australia has been hugely successful at the Gabba over the past 35 years, with its sole Test defeat at the venue coming in January 2021, when the home series against India finished at the ground.
CA chief Nick Hockley said he wanted to ensure fans had greater certainty around when and where Tests would be played.
“We’re working that through at the moment, (having) discussion with cricket associations, venues and government partners right around the country,” Hockley told this masthead.
“On not only next summer’s schedule but also the schedule for the next seven years going forward. So our aim is to give everyone clarity and certainty over the forward schedule so that we can all work together to make Test cricket as big as it can possibly be.
“Over the last few years, there has been a level of flexibility to the order (of the) Tests.
“What we’d ideally like to do over the next program as far as it’s possible, is to get a level of consistency.
“(For) cricket fans here but also visiting fans around the world know when they can they can build their plans, and ultimately it’s (about) getting as many people to the ground as possible.”
India is due to visit for five Tests next summer. Hockley would not indicate as to where that series will begin.
This is the second straight summer in which Optus Stadium has hosted the first Test. After underwhelming crowds last summer against the West Indies, CA and the WACA have worked diligently to grow excitement around this summer’s fixture. While well short of WACA chief Christina Matthews’ ambitions of 25,000, the crowd of 16,259 on day one of this week’s Test was the highest ever for a day’s Test cricket between Australia and Pakistan in Perth.
More Coverage
Teen cricketer eyes Christmas comeback after coach saves life
Talented NSW junior Kade Sutton was clinically dead for five minutes after suffering a heart attack at training in late August, only to be brought back to life by his coach, Jed Dickson. Now, he’s eyeing a return to the sport he loves by Christmas.
‘Heartbroken’: Aussie WC campaign rocked by double injury blow
There are fears Australian captain Alyssa Healy’s T20 World Cup campaign could be over after she suffered a painful injury during her side’s victory over Pakistan.