KARACHI: Pakistan’s skipper Babar Azam and the wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan scored centuries to propel Pakistan to save the second Test against Australia, here on Wednesday.
The historic second Test between Pakistan and Australia resulted in a draw after an eventful final session. Pakistan needed 196 runs to pull off the highest-ever run chase, while the visitors needed six wickets.
Pakistan, in the end, managed to bat through and scored 443/7 before the conclusion of the second Test.
The wall for the hosts Babar tumbled various records with his brilliant knock of 196. The right-handed batter missed on his maiden double hundred as he fell short to Nathan Lyon. The skipper faced a record 425 balls and hit 26 boundaries including a six.
His partner, Rizwan, however, carried his bat till the stumps on the final day and amassed his second Test century in the closing minutes. He scored 104* off 177 balls, laced with 11 boundaries and a six.
His heroic knock bolstered the home side to hang on for the draw despite quick wickets.
The second session of the final day of the second Test turned out to be an interesting one as the visitors made one scalp. Aussie skipper Pat Cummins removed Fawad Alam in the opening minutes of the session.
Resuming at an overnight score of 192/2, the pair of Babar and Abdullah Shafique propelled the home side’s score in the run chase at a decent rate in the first session of the final day. The pair added a further 57 runs into their overnight third-wicket partnership before the Australian captain dismissed Abdullah for 96.
The right-handed batter missed on his second Test century by a mere four runs. He faced 305 balls and smashed seven boundaries including a six.
After a valiant 228-runs partnership with Abdullah, Babar joined hands with the newly joined Fawad Alam and made sure that the side do not lose any more wickets. The pair of Babar and Fawad managed to put on a brief five-runs partnership before the lunch.
For Australia, Lyon led the way; taking three wickets, while Cummins bagged two. Cameron Green, on the other hand, made one scalp.
