Pakistan v Australia, first Test Day 4 recap
Steve Smith says there is an outside chance Australia could still win the first Test in Pakistan, but admits he got “greedy” and subsequently missed the chance to break his century drought on a “benign” Rawalpindi pitch.
Steve Smith says there is an outside chance Australia could still win the first Test in Pakistan, but admits he got “greedy” and subsequently missed the chance to break his century drought on a “benign” Rawalpindi pitch.
Australia was 7-449 after rain got under the covers on the outfield and robbed the game of a first session on Monday.
The visitors trail by 27 runs and it would take an extraordinary collapse by Pakistan for them to win.
“Hopefully, the tail can stay out there for a while,” he said. “And if they do, they usually score pretty quickly. If they do, there‘s a decent chance that we’d be able to set a half-decent total to potentially have a bowl at. If we get a hundred or something in front, you just never know with this game.
“We take a few early wickets, a couple of balls hit the rough, some things happen on day five. So hopefully they can spend a bit of time out there. We’ll see how we go.”
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Chances are slim on a wicket where the bowlers have taken 10 wickets and the batters scored 925 runs across four days on what is Australia’s first visit in 24 years.
“It’s pretty benign,” Smith said. “There’s not a great deal of pace and bounce in it for the seamers. I think the spinners have offered a little bit. When you hit the right length there’s been a little bit of natural variation and you know, when you get it out a bit wider into the rough I think there’s a little bit there as well.
“So I thought it would break up a little bit more and probably turn a bit more from the start, but it probably hasn’t done so. But yeah, pretty benign, dead wicket.“
Smith has only scored one century in 15 Tests since his last in the Ashes at Manchester in 2019.
He was out for 78 trying to sweep - an excellent catch from Mohammad Rizwan - despite Pakistan’s obvious plans.
“Pretty annoyed [with the way I got out],” Smith, who fell for 78 trying to sweep Nauman operating with a negative line. “I got a bit greedy with the field they had set. Even if I was hitting that I was probably only getting a single, so disappointed to have worked pretty hard and got myself in a nice position to go on and get a big score.
“I’m disappointed in my shot selection and probably just the position of the game as well. Perhaps if we were five down we might have been able to push a little harder in the morning and potentially set something up for the fourth innings of the match. You never know if you get a 100 lead what can happen so yeah, a bit disappointing.”
While Imam-Ul-Haq and Azhar Ali both scored 150s for Pakistan, no Australian batter made three figures.
Four passed fifty with Usman Khawaja (97), David Warner (68), Marnus Labuschagne (90) all failing to convert.
Cameron Green fell three runs short of a half century.
For Pakistan it was 35-year-old Nauman Ali, who only made his debut last year, that did the damage. The left arm orthodox took 4-107 and has cemented his place in the side for the next two matches.
SCORE: Australia 6-449 (Mitchell Starc 12*, Pat Cummins 5*) after 137 overs trail Pakistan 4-476 by 27 runs at stumps.
ROLLING UPDATES
11:50pm: STUMPS! Bad light has finally stopped play with Nauman Ali the man of the day, sitting on figures of 4-107 as the players walk off the field on day four. It was a fruitful but disappointing day for the Aussies with no batter able to go on with their start and post a century.
It’s hard to see tomorrow ending in anything other than a draw, we’ll see you then!
11:45pm: Wicket! Alex Carey has fallen to arguably the best ball of the match. A second wind from Naseem Shah saw him get one to nip in and move away, cleaning up the Australian wicketkeeper’s off-stump.
No sign of a declaration, Australian captain Pat Cummins comes out to bat. His opposing captain Babar Azam also brings himself on to bowl, clearly fancies some lower-order wickets.
11:30pm: It’s very slow going for Australia, only 11 runs have been scored by Australia since Steve Smith got out more than half an hour ago. Confusing tactics this really unless Australia are already resigned for a draw.
10:55pm: Wicket! It’s Steve Smith this time who has lost his wicket playing a shot he didn’t need to. Pakistan were tempting him into playing down the leg side and he feathered one of Ali to the keeper.
He becomes the fourth Aussie batter to fall between 65-100 in this innings.
For context, the largest innings total in Test history without a player scoring a century is India’s 9-524 against New Zealand in 1977.
10:34pm: Wicket! Cameron Green has fallen agonisingly short of a first half-century in his maiden Test away from home. He was drawn into a mistimed sweep shot by Nauman Ali and caught at short fine-leg. A clearly frustrated Green walked off the ground knowing he’d left a lot of runs out there.
10:20pm: Australia have passed 400 with Smith and Green still looking steady at the crease. Green is approaching a maiden half-century away from home while Smith has slowed in his quest for triple figures.
We’re in the final session of day four and still only eight wickets have been taken for the match.
9:54pm: Pakistan’s lead is now under 100 as Smith and Green resumed their innings after tea. The pair brought up their 50 partnership on the back of two beautiful boundaries from Green through the off-side against Ali.
*****
9:15pm: TEA! Steve Smith and Cameron Green have survived through to tea with Australia now just 112 runs behind Pakistan. Their aim from here will be to take the lead in this final session and then see how big a lead they can get in the first session on Tuesday.
8:45pm: HALF-CENTURY! Steve Smith has brought up his 50 in a much slower innings than his start yesterday. With the wickets that fell around him, Smith has opted for the cautious approach as he and Green look to make in roads in Pakistan’s lead.
8:30pm: REVIEW! It’s been slow going for Cam Green to start his first Test overseas, and he survived an early LBW shout as well. The ball struck Green’s pads what looked like outside the line of off stump, however Pakistan sent the decision upstairs. Turned out the all-rounder had hit the ball anyway and Pakistan lose a review.
8:05pm: ANOTHER WICKET! After two quick boundaries, new batter Travis Head can only survive seven balls after he misjudged a delivery from Ali, finding his edge which was well taken my Mohammad Rizwan behind the stumps.
It now brings in Cameron Green for his first overseas Test.
7:50pm: WICKET! Marnus Labuschagne has to go for 90! Another Aussie has been dismissed in the 90s with Pakistan able to strike with the new ball. Shaheen Shah Afridi made the tactical switch to come around the wicket and got one to nip away from the right-hander with Shafique taking a solid catch at first slip.
7:30pm: Pakistan have taken the new ball and already are causing more problems for the Aussies. Shaheen Shah Afridi produced a lovely first over to trouble Marnus Labuschagne with the ball moving away from the right-hander. Pakistan will be hoping to build up some pressure here.
7:15pm: After finally getting out in the middle, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith have picked up exactly where they left off on Sunday. With Pakistan turning straight to spin, the two Aussies have immediately focused on rotating the strike and picking up as many singles as possible.
6.25pm: After taking lunch early, the umpires are finally satisfied with the state of the outfield with play to start at 7pm AEDT.
We are still set to see 67 overs of play today (meaning 23 will have been lost in total).
The second session will go from 7pm-9.15pm AEDT. After a 20 minute tea break, the final session will go from 9.35-11.45pm AEDT (pending light!).
5.45pm: The latest check has not brought any luck with umpires still not satisfied with the state of the ground. A further inspection will take place at 6.15PM AEDT at which stage it is likely lunch will be called. Looks like we’re still a while away from seeing any action!
5pm: There are clear, blue skies in Rawalpindi at the moment with both teams already at the Stadium. However, because of a wet outfield we’re still waiting for play to start on day four.
With over 30 overs already lost this Test because of bad light, it’s not what Australia needed as they look to somehow find a result still in this Test match.
The umpires are set to inspect the ground again at 5.30pm AEDT.
4.30pm AEDT: We’re still waiting for play to begin in Rawalpindi after an influx of rain overnight delayed the start of day four. Teams were held at their hotels while the weather cleared,
MATCH SITUATION
Peter Lalor – from day three in Rawalpindi
Australian openers raced out of the blocks on the third morning of the Rawalpindi Test match, mocking the slow scoring rate of Pakistan on the first two days.
The veterans raced to 138 at the first break, moving along at over four runs an over before David Warner (68) was dismissed after lunch with the score at 156.
The 156-run opening partnership by the veteran pair is the second highest for Australia in Pakistan since Mark Taylor and Michael Slater scored 176 at the same venue in 1994.
Usman Khawaja was then dismissed on 97 by spinner Nauman Ali – attempting a reverse sweep – looking for the three runs that would have brought up a symbolic century for the left-hander, who was born down the road in Islamabad.
Bad light stopped play with 20 overs remaining. Australia was 2-271 with Marnus Labuschagne on 69 and Steve Smith 24.
SHANE WARNE COVERAGE
Follow CODE Sports for continued coverage of the tragic death of Australian cricket legend, Shane Warne.
- Smith and Warner open up on idolising Warne
- Shane Warne’s legacy to younger generations
- Why Shane Warne was Australia’s Peter Pan
- Mike Atherton: Why Shane Warne was a cut above the rest
FROM THE GROUND
Peter Lalor from Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
News Corp’s Pete Lalor is in Pakistan covering the Test and the reaction to Shane Warne’s tragic passing.
Rawalpindi saw a fair bit of rain overnight so it could be entirely different conditions on day four.
It’s a dark and stormy late afternoon in Pindi pic.twitter.com/GOm6Im7yQ3
— Peter Lalor (@plalor) March 6, 2022
TEAMS
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Pakistan XI: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (c), Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The match: Pakistan v Australia, first Test at Rawalpindi, March 4-8. First ball on March 7 (Monday) will be 3.45pm AEDT (9:45am local) after bad light stopped play early on day three.
How to watch: Watch the match live on Fox Sports or stream on Kayo Sports
How to listen: SEN will be providing ball by ball for the entirety of the series.
Online coverage: Follow the match right here or join our match centre.
Time difference: Pakistan is six hours behind AEDT, five and a half behind ACDT, five behind AEST and three behind AWST.
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