MELBOURNE: Pakistan thr­e­a­tened to take charge of the second Test after dismissing Australia for 318 and were making a good start to their reply on Wednesday but were reduced to 194 for six at stumps at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after the intervention of Pat Cummins.

The tourists looked in fine shape at 124-1 an hour after tea on the second day but Australia’s pace-bowling captain Cummins struck twice in four balls to crush Pakistan’s comeback attempt and they will resume on day three of the match 124 runs in arrears with hopes of a first Test win in Australia since 1995 to level the series at 1-1 fading fast.

At stumps, Mohammad Rizwan was on 29 and Aamer Jamal not out two after Cummins (3-37) took the crucial wickets of Abdullah Shafique (62) and Babar Azam (one), then Agha Salman (five). Off-spinner Lyon (2-48) chipped in by removing Imam-ul-Haq (10) and Shan Masood (54), while Josh Hazlewood bowled Saud Shakeel for nine.

“I thought we bowled decently before tea without too much reward. They obviously batted quite well,” said Cummins. “But it was good at the end there to get a few big wickets and it feels like we’re well into their order now.

“I was actually really happy,” he added of Australia’s batting performance. “I thought our batters did a great job to get us to 300, it was hard work, I think the pitch is just going to get better and better.”

The visitors claimed seven wickets in the morning session on a pitch offering seam and swing. Aamer Jamal spearheaded Pakistan’s charge with 3-64 after Australia resumed on 187-3 after being sent into bat, with Marnus Labuschagne top-scoring on 63.

Openers Imam and Abdullah made a positive start, surviving a series of loud appeals.

But veteran spinner Lyon, fresh from taking his 500th wicket during the first Test in Perth, finally earned a reward when Imam edged to Labuschagne at second slip.

Undeterred, Pakistan upped the run rate after tea with Abdullah reaching his first Test 50 in Australia, and fifth overall, with a four off Mitchell Starc.

But his 90-run partnership with Shan was broken by Cummins, who showed sharp reflexes to stick out his left hand for a diving catch off his own bowling to end Abdullah’s stay.

Cummins leapt into the air in delight in his next over after bowling danger man Babar, finding a gap between bat and pad with a fabulous off-cutter as the crowd of 44,837 roared with delight.

Cummins said his catch to rem­ove Shafique was a stroke of luck.

“Off the bat, they are pretty hard to pick up. They either stick or they don’t,” Cummins said. “Luckily that one stuck, I think in the other hand to what I thought it was going to go in. It was a satisfying wicket. He was playing well.”

Shan had played a gutsy captain’s innings for his eighth Test half-century but frittered all his good work away when he tried to club the ball back over Lyon’s head only to balloon it to Mitch Marsh at point as Pakistan slumped to 147-4.

Four runs later, pace bowler Hazlewood clipped Saud’s off stump before Cummins brought himself back and accounted for Salman, caught by wicketkeeper Alex Carey to leave Pakistan in trouble.

Abdullah said he hoped the seventh-wicket partnership between Rizwan and Aamer, which stands at 24, would allow Pakistan to recover momentum.

“As a batting unit, it hurts,” said Abdullah. “The thing that we are lacking with the batting is the partnerships. But I hope we will recover from this partnership that is going on now. We are pretty much in the game now. As a bowling unit, we have done a good job.”

The rain which had disrupted the opening day of the Boxing Day Test stayed away but conditions still favoured the bowlers and Pakistan were able to wrap up Australia’s first innings before lunch.

Labuschagne had been a rock on day one, digging in for an overnight 44 off 120 balls.

He padded up again alongside Travis Head on nine with the sun shining, smacking a boundary off Shaheen Shah Afridi in the opening over to signal Australia’s intent.

The explosive Head drove Hasan Ali to the ropes off his first ball and followed it up with another in the same over to quickly get in the groove.

But his flair cost him on 17, lashing at a wide Shaheen delivery that took a thick edge and was well collected by Salman in the slips.

At the other end, Labuschagne kept plugging away to bring up his 17th Test half-century.

Marsh was given out twice in successive balls during a fiery Hasan over while on seven by West Indian umpire Joel Wilson. He reviewed both decisions — for lbw and caught behind — and survived.

But just as the match appeared to be slipping away from Pakistan, Aamer bagged the wicket of Labuschagne, who edged to Shafique at slip.

Carey and Starc quickly followed as Pakistan cashed in with a new ball, before Marsh holed out to Aamer off Mir Hamza on 41 and the tail folded.

Australia won the first Test by an emphatic 360 runs in Perth two weeks ago. The third and final Test is scheduled to begin on Jan 3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where Pakistan won their last Test in Australia in 1995.

Scoreboard

AUSTRALIA (1st Innings, overnight 187-3):D. Warner c Babar b Salman 38U. Khawaja c Salman b Hasan 42M. Labuschagne c Abdullah b Aamer 63S. Smith c Rizwan b Aamer 26T. Head c Salman b Shaheen 17M. Marsh c Aamer b Hamza 41A. Carey c Rizwan b Shaheen 4P. Cummins c Hamza b Aamer 13N. Lyon c Hamza b Hasan 8J. Hazlewood not out 5EXTRAS (B-20, LB-15, NB-2 W-15) 52TOTAL (all out; 96.5 overs) 318FALL OF WICKETS: 1-90 (Warner), 2-108 (Khawaja), 3-154 (Smith), 4-204 (Head), 5-250 (Labuschagne), 6-260 (Carey), 7-275 (Starc), 8-286 (Marsh), 9-308 (Cummins)BOWLING: Shaheen 27-5-85-2, Hamza 22-5-51-2, Hasan 23.5-7-61-2, Aamer 19-1-64-3, Salman 5-0-22-1PAKISTAN (1st Innings):Abdullah Shafique c&b Cummins 62Imam-ul-Haq c Labuschagne b Lyon 10Shan Masood c Marsh b Lyon 54Babar Azam b Cummins 1Saud Shakeel b Hazlewood 9Mohammad Rizwan not out 29Agha Salman c Carey b Cummins 5Aamer Jamal not out 2EXTRAS (B-8, LB-6, NB-3 W-5) 22TOTAL (for six wickets; 55 overs) 194STILL TO BAT: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mir HamzaFALL OF WICKETS: 1-34 (Imam), 2-124 (Abdullah), 3-131 (Babar), 4-147 (Shan), 5-151 (Saud), 6-170 (Salman)BOWLING: Starc 13-2-50-0, Hazlewood 12-4-29-1, Cummins 14-1-37-3, Lyon 13-1-48-2, Marsh 3-0-16-0

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2023