PAKISTAN have taken an iron grip of the first Test after veteran Azhar Ali once again tormented Australia’s bowlers and his team put themselves in a position from where history suggests they cannot lose.

On a day when Australia mourned the death of their greatest-ever Test bowler Shane Warne, the pace-heavy attack deployed at Rawalpindi was blunted by the home team’s unhurried and impassable batting and a pitch that offered little other than runs and exhaustion.

At the close of day two, Australia were 5-0 after just one over at the crease in pursuit of Pakistan’s (decl.) 476-4.

That hefty total was built on the back of towering knocks from Azhar (185) and opener Imam-ul-Haq (157) with record books showing in their 70 years at international level Pakistan have never lost a Test after scoring 475 or more in the first innings of a match.

Indeed, only 12 teams in the game’s almost 150-year history have posted a total of 475 or more in the first innings of a match and lost.
And just two of those – India’s defeat of England at Chennai in 2016 and their triumph over Australia at Bengaluru six years earlier – took place on the sub continent.

Australia’s interim coach Andrew McDonald observed at the close of day one – on which his bowlers claimed a solitary wicket – that if Pakistan were still batting a day later then it would become increasingly apparent only two results (Pakistan win and a draw) effectively remained in play.

As events transpired, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam called his batters in with an hour to play on day two by which time a cloud cover had thickened and the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium floodlights were at full lux.

Consequently, Babar’s hopes of unleashing his pace weapon, Shaheen Shah Afridi, at Australia’s openers were thwarted as umpires instructed him to deploy only spinners which meant the new ball was taken by off-spinner Sajid Khan.

But after a solitary over, from which Khawaja took five runs, umpires deemed it was too dark and players left the field.

While ambient conditions might have offered the tourists a rare reprieve in a match where they’ve been squarely on the back foot, since captain Pat Cummins lost the coin toss yesterday, it’s likely to prove short-lived when the quicks roar back into action tomorrow.

QUICK SINGLE
McDonald had also flagged reverse swing will invariably become a factor as the Test plays out, given the dry, abrasive nature of the wicket block and as the lush outfield begins to dry and cause further wear and tear to the ball.

However, the four quicks (including all-rounder Cameron Green), whom the tourists opted to play in the opening game of the three-Test Qantas Tour, could only find marginal movement despite their disciplined efforts across almost two days.

Cummins was the only quick to take a wicket in that time when he trapped Imam in front soon after lunch, but after that it was part-time spinner Marnus Labuschagne who claimed the sporadic breakthroughs, one with a direct-hit run-out and another with his leg breaks

The first of those ended Babar’s innings just as the Pakistan skipper was finding his stride, and the second came when Azhar attempted an ambitious reverse sweep as the home team looked to increase their scoring rate after a ponderous first five sessions.

Australia’s cause wasn’t helped by a couple of missed review opportunities, and a dropped catch from keeper Alex Carey off the spin of Nathan Lyon before Pakistan’s rival gloveman Mohammad Rizwan (who finished 29 not out) had scored.

If Australia are to emerge from the series opener without going 0-1 down in the series, their batters will need to exhibit the same patience and diligent shot selection that featured in the stoic 208-run second-wicket stand between Imam and Azha

In assessing the game’s first day which the Pakistan pair ended 132 n.o. and 64 n.o. respectively, McDonald flagged the two-phase plan his team would bring for day two.
The first element – to control the game’s tempo – was successfully implemented in the day’s opening hour when set batters Imam and Azhar added just 27 runs from 13 overs.

However, the second stage of that pincer movement – to “make inroads in terms of the wicket tally” – proved no more incisive than it had been a day earlier.
Its ambition was not aided by Australia’s wretched record of DRS challenges, with Imam surviving an appeal 143 after the umpire’s not-out call was not referred to the video referee.

Imam had flashed loosely at a ball from Lyon that pitched outside the left-hander’s off-stump from around the wicket and passed beneath the opener’s bat prompting an immediate appeal from Carey which he soon downgraded to understandable excitement that ball had beaten bat.

Discussion ensued with Cummins urgently enquiring from his fielding position at mid-wicket whether it required closer examination, but the non-stop buzz of noise from the joyful Rawalpindi crowd seemingly led the Australians to doubt what they might have heard and the case was closed.

When television replays confirmed the ball had indeed grazed the under-side of Imam’s bat, Cummins offered a rueful smile that effectively hid the frustration that surely fumed within.

That discontent doubtless led to the decision 11 overs later to initiate a review when Azhar aimed a rare pull shot at one of the countless short balls Cummins fired his way in his six-hour occupation to that point, and which appeared to fly harmlessly through to Carey.

But the Australia captain was convinced he’d heard something above the constant drone from the plastic trumpets, and burned the second of his team’s three reviews in ascertaining he was mistaken.
By that time Azhar had cruised to his 19th Test century – his fourth in 10 appearances against Australia – and Australia’s barren run without a wicket had stretched to almost 90 overs

The 37-year-old now boasts 1 185 runs against Australia at an average of almost 56, with yesterday’s effort only surpassed by the unbeaten 205 the right-hander scored as an opener in the 2016 Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

The breakthrough came three balls after the squandered review when Cummins got a delivery to shape marginally into Imam, having pitched on middle and leg and – with the weary opener pinned on the crease – plumb in front of his stumps.

It almost seemed an attempt at a bit of fun when Imam decided to review the call which showed the ball slamming into middle two-thirds of the way up, but the confirmation triggered an annoyed response from the left-hander who slammed his bat into his pad and shouted to the heavens.

Perhaps his anger was triggered by realisation he had fallen 20 runs shy of equalling the highest Test score posted by his revered uncle Inzamam-ul-Haq at Rawalpindi, a benchmark of which Imam was reminded during day one’s post-match media conference.

And if the 26-year-old looked to be mollified by the crowd’s rousing recognition of his career-high tally that had lifted his team to a position of near invincibility, he might have been further aggrieved when the local fans began chanting for Pakistan skipper Babar who was on his way to the wicket.

PAKISTAN 1st innings
Abdullah Shafique c Pat Cummins b Nathan Lyon 44
Imam ul-Haq lbw Pat Cummins 157
Azhar Ali c Cameron Green b Marnus Labuschagne 185
Babar Azam run-out Marnus Labuschagne 36
Mohammad Rizwan not out 29
Iftikhar Ahmed not out 13
Extras: (b-4, lb-7, 1nb-1) 12
Total: (four wkts decl, 162.0 overs) 476
Fall of wickets: 1-105, 2-313, 3-414, 4-442.
Bowling: Mitchell Starc 24-5-71-0, Josh Hazlewood 26-6-53-0, Nathan Lyon 52-5-161-1, Pat Cummins 28-5-62-1, Travis Head 3-0-13-0, Cameron Green 15-3-47-0 (nb-1) Marnus Labuschagne 12-0-53-1.