KARACHI: Australia’s left-handed opener Usman Khawaja and the top-order batter Marnus Labuschagne stood firm as Australia extended their lead to 489 before the stumps on day three of the second Test, here on Monday.
Before the conclusion of the third day of the Karachi Test, Australia finished at 81/1 as Khawaja and Labuschagne made sure that the touring side do not lose any wicket. Khawaja scored an unbeaten 35, while Labuschagne remained not out with his 37.
David Warner, on the other hand, fell short after scoring just seven.
Australia continued their momentum with the ball in the third session as the touring side bowled out Pakistan for 148 to take a massive lead of 408 runs.
Pakistan’s skipper Babar Azam remained the lone-warrior for the home side; scoring 36, while the rest of the batters could not manage to score much.
Earlier, Australia experienced a resounding session as they put the hosts on the backfoot by taking six wickets. In the eventful second session, Pakistan, on the other hand, could only add 62 runs.
Pakistan’s last-match centurion Imam-ul-Haq fell in the first over after Lunch as the left-handed batter threw his wicket to Nathan Lyon after attempting to slog the ball. He scored 20 off 64 balls and hit three boundaries.
Following his departure, Azhar Ali put on a brief 15-runs partnership with Babar before the former made his way back after edging the ball to the slip. He scored 14 off 37 balls.
Azhar’s dismissal sparked the collapse which reduced Pakistan to 97/7 as Fawad Alam bagged a golden duck, while Mohammad Rizwan, Faheem Ashraf, and Sajid Khan scored cheaply and could not get to the double-figures.
The first session of the third day was also an eventful one as the touring side first declared their innings at 556/9 and then an early wicket of Abdullah slightly tilted the game in the favour of the Aussies.
The right-handed batter scored 13 before a direct hit from Swepson stopped his stay at the crease.
Resuming at an overnight score of 505/8, Australian skipper Pat Cummins’s fiery cameo of 34 runs bolstered the visitors’ score to 556/9 as his partner Mitchell Starc could only face two balls on the ongoing third day and walked back without adding to his overnight score of 28.
Cummins, on the other hand, added a valuable 51 runs with the debutant for the 10th wicket as Swepson also chipped in with his unbeaten 15.
For Pakistan, Faheem and Sajid bagged two wickets each, while Nauman Ali, Babar, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Hasan struck out a batter each.
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