An uneventful final day has seen the first Test of Australia and Pakistan’s three-match series end in a bathetic draw as both sides shift their focus to the second Test beginning Saturday in Karachi.
Australia entered Day 5 at 7-for-449 with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins at the crease, however, the tail was unable to wag with the visitors adding just 10 runs to their overnight total before being bowled out. 35-year-old Nauman Ali was by far and away the pick of the bowlers, taking a career best 6-for-107 which included the scalps of Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith. There would be a level of disappointment within the Australian camp with how their only innings played out; at 2-for-311 with Smith and Labuschagne at the crease, they looked poised to leapfrog Pakistan’s first innings total of 476. Another collapse of sorts, however, saw the visitors lose their remaining eight wickets for just 148 runs. Khawaja, Warner, Labuschagne and Smith all past fifty but none were able to go big, with unforced errors cruelling them.
With Pakistan beginning their second innings of the match, a result appeared impossible, allowing openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq to build on their first innings and play with a sense of freedom that can be tough to come by in Test matches. Neither opener was dismissed – Shafique brought up his maiden Test century, whilst Imam became just the 10th batter in Pakistan’s history ever to hit a pair of centuries in the same Test match and first since Misbah-ul-Haq in 2014 – as Pakistan finished the day 0-for-252. Australia used an extraordinary nine bowlers throughout the innings and rarely troubled the Pakistani batters who motored along until stumps.
Despite ending with no result, Pakistan were clearly the more dominant side from the opening session of Day 1. Criticisms of the pitch being too batter-friendly seemed to be fair, however, Australia’s inability to take wickets was concerning either way. Pakistan batted for a total of 239 overs, hitting 728 runs for the loss of just four wickets. Australia, meanwhile, lost all 10 of their first innings wickets for 459.
National Stadium in Karachi, which is where the second Test will begin on Saturday, is historically more spinner-friendly than Rawalpindi and may see Australia include Ashton Agar or Mitchell Swepson at the expense of a quick. Pakistan will again enter the match as favourites, having taken a tonne of confidence from their opening outing of the series.
