ABU DHABI: Debutant opener Fakhar Zaman and skipper Sarfraz Ahmed missed hundreds by six runs each but still revived Pakistan on an enthralling first day of the second and final Test in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Spinner Nathan Lyon took four wickets in six deliveries to embarrass Pakistan in the morning session, but newcomer Fakhar Zaman and captain Sarfraz Ahmed led the rescue with identical scores of 94 runs each before both were dismissed by part-time leg-spinner Marnus Labuschagne.

Seamer Mohammad Abbas then put Pakistan on top at the end of the day by dismissing Usman Khawaja for 3 and nightwatchman Peter Siddle for 4 on the last ball of the day to leave Australia 20-2 in reply. Aaron Finch was 13 not out.

Australia rallied to draw a thrilling first Test in Dubai by batting out the last day and surviving with two wickets left.

The visitors started this Test at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in equal fashion with a stunning 11-minute period by off-spinner Lyon. He took a return catch to remove Azhar Ali on 15 and then dismissed Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, and Babar Azam all without scoring.

Pakistan were in a reasonable position at 57-1 after winning the toss, but the Australia spinners were threatening.

Then the threat became reality. Lyon took the wickets of Azhar and Haris on consecutive balls to end his fourth over, the 20th of the innings.

Asad blocked the hat-trick ball, the first ball of the 22nd over, but got a faint inside edge to Lyon’s subsequent delivery and was caught at bat-pad by Labuschagne after a successful decision review by the Australians.

Lyon struck again two balls later for figures of 4.4-4-4-4. In the process, Lyon surpassed former paceman Mitchell Johnson to move to fourth on Australia’s list of all-time leading wicket-takers with 314. At tea, he had figures of 4-58.

Pakistan’s perilous position could have been worse. Fakhar survived being dropped on 30 by Labuschagne off an irked Jon Holland, and later a close run out.

Labuschagne earlier brought off a sensational catch close to the wicket to dismiss opener Mohammad Hafeez for 4 in Mitchell Starc’s second over, before Fakhar and Azhar shared a half-century stand for the second wicket.

After crashing to 57-5 in the first session, Pakistan outsmarted Australia in the second session through Fakhar and Sarfraz as they scored 127 runs.

The left-handed Fakhar scored nearly three quarters of his runs on the offside, hitting eight fours and a six in his 198-ball knock.

Fakhar was six runs from a century on debut when Labuschagne, not given a bowl until just before tea, trapped him leg before wicket on the stroke of tea. It ended a remarkable 147-run, sixth-wicket stand lasting 37 overs.

The opener became the fourth Pakistan batsmen to be dismissed in the 90s on his debut.

Sarfraz was, by far, more aggressive, and kept the scoreboard moving with constant rotation of the strike before his 129-ball knock was ended in which he hit seven boundaries. He tried an ambitious big hit to raise his hundred but sliced a catch to Siddle and missed out on his first century in four years.

No. 9 batsman Yasir Shah lifted the total with a breezy 28 before Pakistan were all out.

Pakistan made two changes to the lineup that started in Dubai, giving Fakhar and left-arm seamer Mir Hamza Test debuts as replacements for the injured Imam-ul-Haq and the disappointing Wahab Riaz.

Hamza bowled one over late in the day, but Abbas got both strikes, getting Khawaja caught behind brilliantly down the leg side by Sarfraz for his 50th Test wicket, and trapping Siddle.

Abbas became joint second-fastest Pakistani to the milestone of 50 wickets with Waqar Younis, Mohammad Asif and Shabbir Ahmed. The record is held by team-mate Yasir Shah who completed 50 wickets in nine matches.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st Innings):

Fakhar Zaman lbw b Labuschagne 94
M. Hafeez c Labuschagne b Starc 4
Azhar Ali c and b Lyon 15
Haris Sohail c Head b Lyon 0
Asad Shafiq c Labuschagne b Lyon 0
Babar Azam b Lyon 0
Sarfraz Ahmed c Siddle b L’chagne 94
Bilal Asif c Paine b Labuschagne 12
Yasir Shah b M.R. Marsh 28
Mohammad Abbas b Starc 10
Mir Hamza not out 4

EXTRAS (B-11, LB-6, NB-4) 21

TOTAL (all out, 81 overs) 282

FALL OF WKTS: 1-5, 2-57, 3-57, 4-57, 5-57, 6-204, 7-226, 8-247, 9-264.

BOWLING: Starc 12-3-37-2 (2nb); Siddle 10-3-39-0 (1nb); M.R. Marsh 7-2-21-1 (1nb), Lyon 27-5-78-4; Holland 13-3-45-0; Labuschagne 12-2-45-3.

AUSTRALIA (1st Innings):

U.T. Khawaja c Sarfraz b Abbas 3
A.J. Finch not out 13
P.M. Siddle lbw b Abbas 4

EXTRAS 0

TOTAL (for two wkts, 7 overs) 20

FALL OF WKTS: 1-16, 2-20.

TO BAT: S.E. Marsh, M.R. Marsh, T.M. Head, M. Labuschagne, T.D. Paine, M.A. Starc, N.M. Lyon, J.M. Holland.

BOWLING (to-date): Mohammad Abbas 4-2-9-2; Mir Hamza 1-0-4-0; Yasir Shah 2-1-7-0.

UMPIRES: R.K. Illingworth (England) and S. Ravi (India).

TV UMPIRE: R.A. Kettleborough (England).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2018