Nathan Lyon goes fourth in destroying Pakistan

Nathan Lyon surged into fourth spot on Australia’s all-time wicket-taking list with a stunning spell.

Australian spinner Nathan Lyon celebrates after dismissing Babar Azam

Nathan Lyon surged into fourth spot on Australia’s all-time wicket-taking list with a stunning decimation of Pakistan last night in Abu Dhabi.

Lyon ripped through Pakistan’s top order with four wickets in six balls to give Australia a golden shot at breaking a seven-year drought on Asian soil.

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur was in the stands swearing and shaking his head in utter disbelief at the unfathomable shot choices of a top order that appeared in the box seat to bat Australia out of the match after winning the toss on a notoriously flat pitch.

After teetering on the brink at 5-77 at lunch, Sarfraz and Fakhar hit the accelerator and piled on 127 runs in the middle session.

But on the very last ball before tea, Australia’s energiser bunny Marnus Labuschagne was brought onto bowl and delivered spectacularly to nail Fakhar lbw. When he struck again shortly after the break to nick off Bilal Asif Pakistan were 7-226 and with it all to do after winning the toss and seemingly bombing a chance to dictate the game.

When Labuschagne forced a false shot from Sarfarz (94) to take his third wicket with a wobbly catch from Peter Siddle at deep mid-off, Pakistan were left 8-247 an hour before stumps.

Lyon now sits behind only Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee in Australia’s wicket-taking hall of fame with 314 Test victims, after his extraordinary burst of 4-0 in six deliveries left Pakistan reeling at 5-77 at lunch.

At one point he was on a hat-trick, and when he missed, he took his third scalp one ball later. Azhar Ali played a loose shot back down the wicket to fall as Lyon’s first victim, but the most inexplicable dismissal came from Babar Azam who tried to slog one against the spin second ball, despite the fact Lyon had just been on a hat-trick.

On day one of the first Test in Dubai, Australia barely got a look in for two sessions of painstaking toil.

But with the series on the line in Abu Dhabi, the chaos started in just the third over of play when short-leg specialist Labuschagne held one of the great juggling catches to get rid of first Test century-maker Mohammad Hafeez from the bowling of Mitchell Starc.

Labuschagne later dropped a sitter off Jon Holland at mid-wicket, but it mattered little as Lyon’s carnage opened up at the other end.

Australia have not won a Test series in Asia since 2011 when they beat Sri Lanka, Lyon’s first tour in the national side. In the meantime they’ve had failed results in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh — but none more humiliating than the last time they were in the UAE and Pakistan utterly destroyed them back in 2014. Lyon turned in the worst performance of his career in that series, taking just three wickets in the two Test matches at a disastrous average of 140 runs per wicket.

There is now an overriding argument to suggest Lyon is the best spinner in Test cricket. India’s Ravi Ashwin and Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath are world-beaters at home, but often struggle away.

Lyon has evolved into an all-weather matchwinner. He took bags of wickets in India last year and in Bangladesh took more wickets than any Australian ever had in a two-match series with 22.

Lillee’s 355 career wickets is now only 41 scalps away for the rampaging Lyon.