MELBOURNE: Pakistan captain Shan Masood achieved the rare feat of scoring 50 or more as captain in both innings of a Test match in Australia during the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Friday.
Shan Masood top-scored for Pakistan in the fourth innings with a well-fought 60 off 71, laced with seven boundaries while chasing 317, which the Greenshirts failed to chase as they lost by 79 runs.
Shan Masood’s second-innings performance was followed by a 54-run knock in the first innings, which made him the first Pakistan captain since Imran Khan in 1983 to score more than 50 runs in both innings of a Test match in Australia.
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Legendary Imran Khan registered scores of scores of 83 and an unbeaten 72 in the drawn Boxing Day Test at MCG during Pakistan’s tour of Australia in 1983.
Prior to Imran Khan, Hanif Mohammad also achieved this feat back in 1964 in a drawn Test match at the same ground, when he scored 104 and 93 as captain.
Shan Masood also became the first visiting batter to score half-centuries in both innings at MCG since Virat Kohli scored 169 and 54 during the Boxing Day Test.
For the unversed, Australia attained an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series after defeating Pakistan, courtesy of their skipper Pat Cummins’ ten-wicket haul.
READ: Pat Cummins-led Australia sink Pakistan to win Test series