LAHORE: Pakistan’s opening batter Abdullah Shafique and top-order batter Azhar Ali stood firm and took the home side to 90/1 at the conclusion of the second day of the third Test, here on Tuesday.
In response to Australia’s 391, the home side managed to score 90/1 at the stumps on the second day. Opener Abdullah and Azhar anchored the innings with an unbeaten 70-runs partnership and will now resume the proceedings on the third day for Pakistan.
Abdullah is just five away from his half-century, while Azhar has scored an unbeaten 30 off 79 balls.
Earlier, Pakistan were off to a poor start as the home side lost their first wicket in the form of Imam-ul-Haq for a combined score of 20. The left-handed batter managed to score 11 before Pat Cummins trapped him in his legs.
Earlier, Pakistan bowled out Australia for 391, thanks to the four-wicket hauls each from Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
After a frustrating first session, Pakistan’s pacers fired back at the opposition in the second session; taking five wickets and conceding only 71 runs.
Australia’s set pair of Alex Carey and Cameron Green fell in the quick successions after the Lunch break, while the batting tail had no answers to Pakistan’s bowling attack.
Carey scored an important 67, while Green starred with his 79. The left-handed opener Usman Khawaja, however, remained the top scorer for his side with a brilliant 91.
For Pakistan, Shaheen and Naseem picked four wickets each, while Sajid Khan and Nauman Ali struck out a batter apiece.
At the resumption of day two, Australia, resuming at an overnight score of 232/5, the visitors completely dominated the first session of day two. The pair of Carey and Green added 88 runs into their side’s overnight score at a decent run-rate of 3.14.
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