So Australia win the series, they’re 2-0 up and can ready themselves for the David Warner Farewell Jubilee in Sydney in the new year. We’ll be there, freshly armed with resolutions or hangovers or both. The crowds are still milling, and most of the Australian players are out there somewhere, taking a few photos with people and saying hello. It’s a nice scene.
Time for us to pack it in from the MCG. Another Boxing Day Test done. See you in 2024.
Here is the wires report.
“I dare say the Twitterverse will fill with confected rage or malicious nonsense, so this is not that,” writes Gervase Green. “But I must admit I could do without the Australian team all so visibly high-fiving and back patting when the very first replay of the Rizwan dismissal was shown on the big screen. Given it took Richard Illingworth another 20-odd reviews to come to what still seems a tenuous verdict, the display seemed designed to influence the outcome. Perhaps inevitable - and impossible to legislate against, I accept - but I still would rather they did not do that.”
I don’t see how it could influence the outcome. The third umpire is looking at the review screens, not at the players on the field. In any case, players try to influence the on-field umpire every time they appeal.
Guy Hornsby writing in from not long ago, moments before the final implosion.
“This is another glorious captain’s spell from Pat. Rizwan and Salman looked busy and you thought they could take it to 80-odd to get by the close, but Cummins brought himself on after a great spell from Hazlewood and did what he does. Rizwan will feel hard done by but on balance that looked like the wristband. And Jamal never looked comfortable with the short ball and that odd hingeing duck. And now it’s right back with Australia. Salman or bust, you feel. What a great pitch and a fantastic Test match.”
Nice scenes here at the MCG, they’ve let the crowd out onto the grass to meander around, look at the wicket square, kick a footy and so on. Late-day sunlight streaming across the ground. It’s a good scene.
Pat Cummins wins the Johnny Mullagh / Unaarrimin Medal for player of the match, which makes a fair bit of sense. Every time Pakistan gained some sort of hold while batting, he was the one to knock their fingers off the ledge.
Australia win by 79 runs
The extra half hour does the trick. The umpires will get a day off tomorrow. Pakistan collapse so soon after they had hope of pulling off something remarkable. But Australia’s fast bowling is too good, and the lower order folded. From 219-5 to 237 all out, they’ve lost 5 for 18 if you’re not confident on the arithmetic. A real shame that a competitive finish didn’t pan out. A couple of hours tomorrow would have been tense and memorable.
WICKET! Hamza c Carey b Starc 0, Pakistan 237-10
All over! Gone first ball. Another short one, another glove up in front of the face, this time taking a skewed edge, and this time it’s Carey with a mad dash to make, from behind the stumps towards a short fine leg, and he hangs on diving forward.
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WICKET! Salman c Marsh b Starc 50, Pakistan 237-9
There he goes. Had to keep taking them on, really. Short ball from Starc, swing across the line towards leg, but the top edge flies down to deep third. Mitch Marsh has ground to make up, and lands about as elegantly as the Spruce Moose when he ploughs into the turf. But he holds onto the ball.
Half century! Salman Agha 50 from 69 balls
67th over: Pakistan 237-8 (Salman 50, Hasan 0) It’s been a really good innings from Salman, though he probably shouldn’t have taken a single from Cummins third ball of the over. That left Shaheen with too much to face. But it does complete a fifty for the man who is really a proper bat though he’s in this team as a spinning all-rounder.
WICKET! Shaheen c Labuschagne b Cummins 0, Pakistan 237-8
Same method, same result. Back of a length, Shaheen tries to turn the ball to midwicket, leading edge that pops straight up, short leg trots in to take it.
Five in the innings for Cummins, and ten wickets in the match.
66th over: Pakistan 236-7 (Salman 49, Shaheen 0) Salman dials the intensity way back down, defending against Lyon before taking a run with two balls to go. Shaheen dutifully defends.
65th over: Pakistan 235-7 (Salman 48, Shaheen 0) Cummins to bowl, and there’s another boundary for Salman, top edging the pull over fine leg. Goes for a big square drive next ball, gets 10 percent of it, inside edge past his leg stump. He does a big 360 spin to find the ball and then starts running, hoping for two but it’s never there. Shaheen has to survive three balls. Leaves the first. Edges the second into the ground. Bunts the third to midwicket and survives.
82 to win.
64th over: Pakistan 230-7 (Salman 43, Shaheen 0) That’s really it, Salman Agha can’t do this job with only this dicey Pakistan lower order for company. Shaheen Shah Afridi, who loves a slog, Hasan Ali similarly, and Mir Hamza who is deemed to be worse than either of the other two.
Wonder if we’ll take the extra half hour? The umpires come together for a chat, in fact, at 17:58 local time, so I think we will. They speak to Cummins after that. And we will take extra time.
And Salman says, why not try to win it by then? Lyon bowling. Slashes a couple of runs past slip, charges to punt one over midwicket for four, goes again for two through deep square leg, then backs away to carve three through cover and keep the strike! Strike-farming perfection! 11 off the over and he’ll face the next.
Pakistan need 87 to win.
WICKET! Jamal c & b Cummins 0, Pakistan 219-7
63rd over: Pakistan 219-7 (Salman 32) It’s always Cummins. Survival mode from Aamer Jamal for the first four balls. Three slips, gully, short leg. Fifth ball of the over he gets the confidence to drive, but only to mid off. Sixth ball, nasty short one, rears at him and he defends himself as best he can. Gloves it way up in the air and Cummins settles under it, halfway down the pitch.
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62nd over: Pakistan 219-6 (Salman 32, Jamal 0) Salman keeps charging Lyon but not going through with a shot. Three times this over. No run from it.
61st over: Pakistan 219-6 (Salman 32, Jamal 0) Aamer Jamal to the middle, who batted very well for 33 in the first innings but will have to do that much and more this time around. Nearly plays the ball onto his stumps for nought, having to hop back and kick it away.
WICKET! Rizwan c Carey b Cummins 35, Pakistan 219-6
The Pakistan dream perhaps ends here, and in controversy. Rizwan is livid. A nasty lifter from Cummins angles back at him and he flinches out of the way. It ducks between bat and body, hitting him on the forearm on the way through. He rubs the arm. The Australians appeal for glove. The umpire says no. They send it upstairs. And after about five minutes of replays, the third umpire decides that Hot Spot shows contact with the very top of the elastic wristband of the glove. Did it? I’m not sure, even after that many replays. Maybe? But overturning the onfield call is supposed to be conclusive. In the end, it is overturned, and Rizwan is given out.
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60th over: Pakistan 219-5 (Rizwan 35, Salman 32) Cummins keeps the faith with Lyon. Rizwan skips down, yorks himself. Stays home, drives one to long on. Salman reckons that looks a good idea, and also advances only to kick the ball away when he’s not close enough to the pitch to attack it. Long on, deep midwicket, deep point. So he opens his wrists and drives through cover for two.
Klaxon! Psychological less than 100 barrier! Pakistan need 98 to win.
59th over: Pakistan 216-5 (Rizwan 34, Salman 30) Cummins returns from the Members End, just the three overs for Hazlewood in that spell. Bouncer, get him ducking, all of that stuff, but it’s a high bouncer that doesn’t worry The Rizz. One slip and a gully all that remains of the cordon. Deep forward square leg, long leg, fine leg, all back for the short ball. But the angle of the next one is more off stump than bodyline, and Rizwan uppercuts for four! Absurd, stylish, audacious shot. Over the slip. Pulls one more run to the deep. Salman expects a short ball and drives belatedly at a length one, nearly nicking it.
101 to win.
58th over: Pakistan 211-5 (Rizwan 29, Salman 30) Belted! Salman Agha comes down the mown strip and lashes a straight drive hard and flat for four. Then rocks back and cuts Lyon long and late, four more! This is lovely batting. Lyon in the crosshairs. He’s gone for 69 in his 15th over, close to five an over. Salman blocks out the rest of the over. He’s gone past Rizwan’s score.
106 to win.
57th over: Pakistan 203-5 (Rizwan 29, Salman 22) The falling over periscope for none, is it? Yes, Rizwan ducking and playing at the same time, dipping at the knees while reaching the bat skyward. That after Hazlewood nails him on the pad with an in-dipper and appeals, but it’s going just over the bails and the umpire correctly says no. Australia correctly don’t review. No run this over from Large Josh.
56th over: Pakistan 203-5 (Rizwan 29, Salman 22) Bottom-handed flick drive from Rizwan, but Lyon gets down to block it in his follow-through. Then he edges past the keeper! Proper nick, travelling, and it angles up past Carey’s shoulder, maybe flicks the flap of the glove on the way and goes fine of Smith at slip. Proper mistake, but too hot a chance.
Another edge from Salman, top edge, over short fine as he sweeps for two!
Then a third edge, top edge again, as Salman reverse sweeps and lobs it up. Smith dives forward at slip but can’t reach it.
Three false shots in the over. Lyon just shakes his head. Pakistan 114 to win. I said that if they reached 200 at two wickets down, it would be on. They’re five down, and one more wicket pretty much ends it, so I still don’t think it’s on. But it’s a fun idea.
55th over: Pakistan 198-5 (Rizwan 27, Salman 19) Schmackoed past cover again by Rizwan, he’s got a way of making those hits sound so meaty. Dogs go whacko. Hazlewood displeased by those three runs, chats to Cummins. Leg slip in place. Two conventional and a gully. And Salman flashes through that latter gap for four! Was trying to go squarer, true edge, comfortable catching height to third slip… who isn’t there. Four runs. Then three more from a wild bouncer. Swings wide down leg, spills away to be chased, and the umpire calls it.
So Hazlewood who bowled 24 dots in a row has now conceded 10 from two legal balls.
Salman keeps trying to place singles into the gap at cover but finding the field.
119 to win.
54th over: Pakistan 188-5 (Rizwan 24, Salman 15) Lyon is back. Four in the deep for Rizwan, I don’t know about that. Long on, deep midwicket, deep backward, deep point. He just drives a single to that man down the ground. Salman had already done the same, though only three fielders out for him. That’s 129 to win.
53rd over: Pakistan 186-5 (Rizwan 23, Salman 14) Again Salman finds that gap, this time from Hazlewood, this time netting three runs as the ball is pulled up just inside the rope. Lyon’s dive at backward point was fruitless. Rizwan misses his pull shot, over the top. Then Hazlewood, having replaced Cummins, pitches up and strikes the pad, ending up past the striker having run back so far appealing.
Whichever official told me earlier that 30,000 people were here might need some glasses. Or maybe they said 13,000. Either way, just over 18,000 today is the official number, and 164,000 so far for the Test.
52nd over: Pakistan 182-5 (Rizwan 22, Salman 11) Starc to Rizwan, around the wicket, and despite two covers and a mid off the batter still finds a gap between them for a run. Salman makes good contact with a square drive but Lyon stops it. Half a dozen Agha Salman shots have found the field.
And now he’s hit. Ducks into a bouncer, eyes off it and turns his head as it stays a bit low. Wears it above the ear on the side of the helmet. Starc walks down and places a hand on Salman’s shoulder in concern, gets a thumbs-up from the batter.
Wore that flush. He’s staying out there and saying he’s fine, but I’d be surprised if he’s not wobbly after that. It usually shakes up players after a few minutes. We’re doing the physio and new helmet routine now.
And after all that delay, the very next ball he steers four, from back of a length past Marsh in the gully. 135 to win.
51st over: Pakistan 177-5 (Rizwan 21, Salman 7) Inventive shot! Rizwan tugs the ball away fine, short and leg stump-ish and he’s able to spin on his heels to catch up with it. Picks up four, then sprints as soon as he places the next ball towards mid off, and makes his ground. Pakistan 140 away.
I mentioned the 24 dot balls in a row earlier. Some helpful video folks have strung them together.
Josh Hazlewood strung together 24 consecutive dots in his post-tea spell - and it included the BIG wicket of Babar Azam! 🔥 #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/GIgxjoLwyI
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 29, 2023
50th over: Pakistan 172-5 (Rizwan 16, Salman 7) Starc around the wicket to the right-handers, the angle from which he destroyed Pakistan at the MCG on a tense last day in 2016. Almost an impossible win at the start of that day. He used to get a bit more reverse back then. Rizwan slices a run here, Salman steers two more.
49th over: Pakistan 169-5 (Rizwan 15, Salman 5) Run from the third ball as Salman goes cross-bat with no power to bunt Cummins away. The little keeper almost hops to pull Cummins to long leg, one more run. Drinks break, with 148 runs between the teams.
48th over: Pakistan 167-5 (Rizwan 14, Salman 4) Pakistan need 153 to win. One Brian Lara or Kusal Perera away. Which is a lot, now. Agha Salman defends stoutly enough through Starc’s over, past the edge a couple of times, then keeps strike again by square-driving three. Needs to get Rizwan the strike and keep the scoring going. 150 to win.
47th over: Pakistan 164-5 (Rizwan 14, Salman 1) Cummins to bowl, and Rizwan just needs Salman to stay wth him. The new man comes onto strike after Rizwan drops a single from in front of his ribcage. Three slips, gully, point waiting. His first run keeps strike from a defensive shot.
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WICKET! Shakeel c Carey b Starc 24, Pakistan 162-5
46th over: Pakistan 162-5 (Rizwan 13) Exactly what Pakistan didn’t need! Partnership building, some sense of stability. Shakeel picking off runs with his little flicks behind square. Mitchell Starc from the Shane Warne Stand end, a light irony there. Low bounce outside Rizwan’s off stump is interesting. Two covers still in place with the left-armer’s angle across. Rizwan slashes to backward point instead, high to low and coming down on the ball, one run to the sweeper. But when Starc slips in a short one last ball of the over, Shakeel tries to fiddle an uppercut over the slips, and only nicks it to Carey.
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45th over: Pakistan 160-4 (Shakeel 23, Rizwan 12) Cummins is back. Five overs from Hazlewood since tea. Shakeel times a square flick nicely but finds the fielder, then nearly plays a ball onto his stumps, trickling back behind his pads after a defensive shot into the ground. Places his next glance fine for one. Rizwan defends the one ball left in the over.
44th over: Pakistan 159-4 (Shakeel 22, Rizwan 12) Lyon has been ineffective today, 0 for 54 from 12 overs, so he is replaced by Starc. Who is immediately clattered through cover by Rizwan for four, hard hit with a wrist-snap to get it square of mid off. Cummins immediately goes to his Winter Plan – double covers. Warner quite square, Khawaja conventional. Wanting Rizwan to popup a catch there like he did in the first innings. Smith and Marsh in the cordon. Deep point too for the square slash. That means a lot of space on the leg side: mid on, forward square, fine leg, if Rizwan can manipulate the ball that way. Tricky with Starc’s angle across, but possible if he’s too short or too full. He does get a full ball, and times it, but drives it right back at the bowler who fields one-handed on the bounce and is duty bound to throw at the stumps.
158 to win.
43rd over: Pakistan 155-4 (Shakeel 22, Rizwan 8) Hazlewood goes past the off stump, then crashes into Rizwan’s thigh pad. Rizwan tries to counter with a hack across the line but gets little on it, then gets a run behind square hopping across his crease. That ends a streak of 24 dot balls from the fast bowler. Immediately starts producing more of them by bouncing Shakeel.
42nd over: Pakistan 154-4 (Shakeel 22, Rizwan 7) Shakeel eases along with a little step-back to work Lyon square. Upon which, Rizwan goes after him first ball! Huge slog sweep over the longest part of that midwicket boundary for six. Extraordinary blow. And rubs it in by getting forward to defend the next ball as though everything is normal. Jumps back after that to sizzle the ball off his pads to Marsh who is halfway back to the rope at a forward square leg, just one run. 163 to win.
41st over: Pakistan 146-4 (Shakeel 21, Rizwan 0) That’s the game, isn’t it? I suppose if Rizwan made 60 and Shakeel made 80 then they might get close enough for the rest to scramble it, but Hazlewood suddenly looks impossible again. His first ball to Rizwan sears past the bat, rising, his second tenderises the thigh pad jagging in. Rizwan pulls the third, but with no power right at Lyon at square leg. Three maiden overs on the trot from Hazlewood, and the wicket.
WICKET! Babar b Hazlewood 41, Pakistan 146-4
Bowls him! That is borderline unplayable again, like the one he got in the first innings. Yes, Babar hangs back a bit and pushes a bit. Yes, there’s a little gap. But again that ball pitches on a perfect length, in that channel of green grass that has provided so much assistance, and decks in at the off stump. Babar can’t handle the jag, and the length hits high on the stump.
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40th over: Pakistan 146-3 (Babar 41, Shakeel 21) What is Lyon’s plan? Ring field on the single, three on the leg, three on the off. Two close catchers, slip and short leg. One in the deep, back at square leg. Again, waiting for a mistake. Shakeel punches a run square. Long on goBabar whips his bat over the top of the ball, sending it down towards long on for one more.
171 to win, a single Harmanpreet away.
39th over: Pakistan 144-3 (Babar 40, Shakeel 20) Hazlewood from the Members End. Some chants from the crowd, “Come on Aussie” is getting a run. Apparently we’re above 30,000 today although in a ground this size that leaves a lot of space. Hazlewood goes at the stumps, Babar gets in behind the line. Two slips and a gully, backward point, cover, mid off, mid on, midwicket, long leg. Very conventional field. Australia waiting for a mistake. Nearly get one, as Babar edges on the bounce to Smith at second slip. No run from the over.
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38th over: Pakistan 144-3 (Babar 40, Shakeel 20) Shakeel is not shy about playing the sweep. Gets very low to Lyon in line with the stumps and hits it hard out to the very long boundary at deep midwicket, fielded for three. He’s into the 20s again, just like every innings of his career except for the 9 he made in the first dig here. Either side of that, two Babar drives to long on. One-day batting. 173 to win.
37th over: Pakistan 139-3 (Babar 38, Shakeel 17) Misses out! Width outside off stump, pretty short, and Shakeel swishes the bat with a lot of movement and zero contact. Ducks a very short bouncer to follow and it’s an over unblemished by scoring.
36th over: Pakistan 139-3 (Babar 38, Shakeel 17) Lyon rolling on, and Babar looks pretty comfortable in this over after a pair of singles.
35th over: Pakistan 137-3 (Babar 37, Shakeel 16) Dealing in threes at the moment, Shakeel drives another triple out through cover and demands a long chase from Labuschagne. Hazlewood still has a leg slip and uses the bouncer a couple of times. Pakistan need 180 more.
34th over: Pakistan 133-3 (Babar 36, Shakeel 13) Lyon to start off after tea, and he’s indulging in a big appeal as Shakeel pokes at a ball down leg side, but the umpire doesn’t agree there was any bat. Shakeel celebrates by dropping down and shovelling a scoop over his shoulder for three runs.
Tea on day four – Pakistan 129 for 3, need another 188 to win
So it’s not on, but it’s not not on. This pair batting well. Things will get trickier probably as dusk comes on. But for the moment the batting conditions are nice enough, even if the quality of bowling is high.
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33rd over: Pakistan 129-3 (Babar 35, Shakeel 10) Three to end the previous over ives Cummins the chance to work over Babar again, and Pakistan’s key player doesn’t look convincing. Bottom edges a pull into his knee roll, leaver alone where he can. Then gets the worst of the stingers to finish! Inside edge, back into the side of his knee, the bit where it’s impossible to get padding. That really hurts, and he regretfully hobbles a run as Shakeel urges him through.
That’s tea.
32nd over: Pakistan 128-3 (Babar 34, Shakeel 10) Marsh to Shakeel, who cuts another run. Even his singles look really good today. He seems switched on. Into double figures for now the 16th time out of 17 in his career. Call him the StartMaster. If you like. Up to you. Marsh is bowling the famous Stump To Stump™ line to Babar, at least until he pings in a bouncer that has some lift, but Babar goes after it anyway. Top edge, out behind square… almost held by Travis Head! Who comes flying across from a squarer position, dives, and maybe fingertips that ball close to the ground. Near impossible with the ball so low. His glancing contact helps slow its pace, and he’s able to chase back and keep the scoring to three with another dive to overtake the ball an inch from the rope. No wicket, but that’s full commitment in the field.
It's a Smith-off!
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) December 29, 2023
Steve Smith joins Graeme Smith on 169 Test catches, equal ninth all time. Who wore it better? pic.twitter.com/QTA2ZxcUvR
31st over: Pakistan 124-3 (Babar 31, Shakeel 9) Another stylish shot running fine from Shakeel, a pull, but this time Hazlewood collects and they only run one. Cummins has 2 for 27 as Babar ducks and weaves.
30th over: Pakistan 122-3 (Babar 30, Shakeel 8) Time for Mitch Marsh to have a Guy Rundle. A few singles, most notably when Babar flicks with gorgeous timing but hits the man at midwicket, ricocheting a run to mid on.
Speaking of ricochets, did you see Glenn Maxwell’s left-handed pinball shot for three to win a 7-over chase? That’s peak Maxwell.
That'll do it!
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 28, 2023
That's back-to-back wins for the @StarsBBL ⭐ #BBL13 pic.twitter.com/aK82WQy8Y9
29th over: Pakistan 118-3 (Babar 28, Shakeel 7) Two slips, gully, leg slip for the left-handed Shakeel as Cummins bounds to the crease like a happy pony. Flicked past that leg slip, and even though fine leg is set quite fine, Hazlewood can’t quite get there. Fumbles it sliding in. Four, then a couple more with a picturesque off drive from Shakeel.
Klaxon: psychological 200-run barrier breached.
28th over: Pakistan 111-3 (Babar 27, Shakeel 1) The new man’s duckless streak to start his Test career goes up to 17 innings, pushing Lyon for one run to the leg side, hanging back.
Don’t be so duckless, throw down your guns…
27th over: Pakistan 110-3 (Babar 27, Shakeel 0) They started that over well. Nudged a single, Babar punched three runs into the off side. But the wicket follows. Saud Shakeel emerges and blocks his first three balls.
WICKET! Masood c Smith b Cummins 60, Pakistan 110-3
The captain goes! In the way he often does, pushing at a length that isn’t quite full enough, edging to slip. Some movement off the straight. Of course, it’s Cummins. It’s always Cummins. Pure quality bowling once again. Masood with 54 in the first innings, 60 in the second, has played a lovely hand but needed to make one of those a defining score. His team’s target is 207 away.
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26th over: Pakistan 106-2 (Masood 59, Babar 24) Schhhhhpanked! Last ball of the over, having been handed strike by his captain, and the previous captain Babar decides to take the attack to Lyon. Skips merrily down and lashes a drive over the bowler’s head.
25th over: Pakistan 101-2 (Masood 58, Babar 20) Two more pulls against Starc, Masood getting one run and Babar belting four over midwicket. That’s a good sign for Pakistan.
I missed this email from Kirk Docker yesterday, and it might be worth answering for broader elightenment. “At the ground, and can’t understand why the scoreboard goes with Aamir and Afridi whereas the telecast goes with Shaheen and Jamal. Clearly they’re aware of what each other would be doing, so someone is wrong but choosing to stay the way they are. Any help understanding would be appreciated.”
I don’t have the expertise to give detail, but broadly speaking the range of racial and cultural groups within Pakistan mean lots of different naming conventions. Most don’t follow the Western standard of personal first name / family last name. There might be a personal name first, or middle of three, while the final name might be the person’s father. Names like Afridi or Khan tend to represent broader clans or regions the person hails from. You don’t tend to call someone by a name like Ali or Shah because those are so commonly appended. Likewise you rarely call someone Mohammed because it’s such a common, at times ceremonial, name. You use one of their other names to distinguish which person.
So each Pakistani player has their best-use name that you have to figure out by usage and precedent and asking questions. And you get a feel for it over time.
The scoreboard operators have become confused that some players are called by first names, so they’ve gone with everyone’s first name. They had Rizwan listed as Mohammed, even. The TV operators have become a bit more savvy and started mixing it up as the series has gone on.
For reference, our OBO one-name list for this XI is Shafique, Imam, Masood, Babar, Shakeel, Rizwan, Salman, Jamal, Shaheen, Hasan, Hamza. Further intel is always welcome.
24th over: Pakistan 96-2 (Masood 57, Babar 16) Shan Masood carries on! Punishes a short ball from Lyon with a slashing cut for four, then taps a single to cover. Babar nudges a run to leg. Masood cuts another. Seven from this over.
Half century! Shan Masood 50 from 57 balls
23rd over: Pakistan 89-2 (Masood 51, Babar 15) The skipper is flying! Flicks Starc away through backward square, a low full toss that skims for four, then pushes two through cover to reach fifty for the second time in this Test. Glances a single to follow, and Babar is able to clip two from a straight ball. A nine-run over is a boon for Pakistan. 228 to win.
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22nd over: Pakistan 80-2 (Masood 44, Babar 13) Shan Masood makes two more contributions towards that target in this over, first a laced cover drive for four, then pulling Hazlewood for three.
Hello gang. Thanks Jim. “At what point is it game on?” was the conversation in the press box just before I took the controls. With the way this Pakistan team has collapsed through the middle this series, I’m saying this pair need to take them to 200 before I’ll entertain the idea.
21st over: Pakistan 73-2 (Masood 37, Babar 13) Close and ouch! Starc replaces Cummins and Masood drives uppishly, the ball dying awkwardly before Labuschagne at mid off and clonking him on the inside of the kneecap. Marnus doesn’t miss the opportunity to throw himself about like a freshly caught trout on a riverbank/English Premier League soccer player. The players stop for a slurp of fluorescent liquid whilst he gets some treatment. I think he’ll be fine.
Masood collects three square of the wicket and singles each to him and Babar complete the over. That’s my stint come to an end. Geoff Lemon is here to take you through what promises to be an intriguing afternoon and evening. Goodbye!
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20th over: Pakistan 68-2 (Masood 33, Babar 12) Six runs off the over as Pakistan get fitter happier more productive. A long way from comfortable. Babar drives for two into the covers and follows up with a sublime clip through midwicket for four.
19th over: Pakistan 62-2 (Masood 33, Babar 6) Cummins once more. There’s simply no let up with this Aussie attack. Masood survives a top edge from a short ball that beat his pull shot for pace, the ball landing safe behind the keeper. Decidedly unconvincing. Babar’s feet get stuck in cement as Cummins rips one past the outside edge. Another short ball swings after the bat and Carey does well to claw it down.
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18th over: Pakistan 60-2 (Masood 33, Babar 6) Hazlewood looks dangerous and almost impossible to score off, spearing the ball in on a length and nipping it around at box height. Masood just manages to jab down in time and pocket a single as the ball hits bat then thigh pad and drops into the off side.
17th over: Pakistan 59-2 (Masood 32, Babar 6) Cummins goes short to Masood who pulls confidently for wide of long on and picks up three runs. How’s that gone there?! Babar aims a flick to leg and the ball balloons off his edge and flies to the boundary at deep third. Chalk ‘em up. Cummins responds with two snorters that beat the outside edge. He takes his cap off the umpire with a rueful grin.
16th over: Pakistan 52-2 (Masood 29, Babar 2) A vociferous appeal from Josh Hazlewood who thinks he’s got Babar with an in-ducker! Umpire Joel Wilson says not out and Cummins sends it upstairs. So close but stays NOT OUT. The ball was just going over the middle bail groove by the width of a gossamer strand.
15th over: Pakistan 51-1 (Masood 28, Babar 2) Babar gets off the mark with a delicious cover drive off Cummins that runs deep into the covers – my days! – a mix up in the middle nearly sees a pointless run out! A dot ball follows. Breathe.
WICKET! Imam-ul-Haq lbw b Cummins 12 (Pakistan 49-2)
Got him at the second time of asking in the over! Full and angling in, Cummins bowls identikit deliveries to Imam. The first is given not out on the field by umpire Michael Gough but two balls later the umpire gives a nod and raises the digit of doom. The DRS shows both deliveries were pretty much hitting the same spot on the top of leg stump. Imperious from Cummins – Pakistan lose their second and Babar Azam comes to the crease, an invisible shoulder yoke of hopes and fears balanced across his shoulders.
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14th over: Pakistan 49-1 (Imam 12, Masood 22) AyeAye! Masood dons his tap shoes and comes twinkling down the track to slap Lyon over midwicket for four. Good intent from Pakistan.
13th over: Pakistan 43-1 (Imam 12, Masood 22) Close! Cummins gets some late movement and darts one past the edge of Imam. A sketchy single sees the opener get off strike the next ball – he hasn’t settled into any kid of groove in this innings thus far.
12th over: Pakistan 41-1 (Imam 11, Masood 22) The Pakistan physio scampers out to give Masood a spritz of magic spray on his left hand, he’s taken a couple of blows so far in this innings, my mind jumps to the innings Pujara played at the Gabba a couple of years ago. This MCG pitch is zippy, but nowhere near as spicy as that one was on day 5.
A single to each batter pocketed off an ever-probing Nathan Lyon.
11th over: Pakistan 39-1 (Imam 10, Masood 21) Cummins has the ball. He thunders in with the sun on his back and induces a smart leave from Imam. A single is then punched through the leg side to bring Masood on strike. He uses the pace of Pat and opens the face to steer two runs wide of point. The Pakistan skipper leaves the next ball wide of off stump well alone but gets in a bit of a tangle pulling a short ball behind square, the ball squirting away for a single.
10th over: Pakistan 35-1 (Imam 9, Masood 18) Pakistan have come out positively! Imam clips Lyon through midwicket for three runs. Masood then rocks back and crrrunches a cut shot in front of square for four. That’s good stuff from the visitors – they have to keep the run rate ticking and try and put some pressure back onto Australia’s bowlers.
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Righto, the players are emerging after the lunch break. Shan Masood scratches his guard with purpose, Nathan Lyon prowls around at the top of his mark. Crucial afternoon session from the MCG incoming.
Read all about it:
Australia’s women have bounced back from Test defeat last week to pull off an incredible ODI run chase against India at the Wankhede stadium :
Time for me to pad quietly to the fridge yet again. 1.45am. Metabolism silently yearning for some respite.
Cranberry sauce looking at you from the corner of the fridge pic.twitter.com/tAmNRC45xz
— Ross Sayers (@Sayers33) December 27, 2023
Lunch - Pakistan 25-1 (require 292 more to win)
Cripes! All happening out there before lunch. Starc sends down a yorker that Imam goes to flick into the leg side – a leading edge sees the ball pop back to Starc in his follow through, the bowler hangs out a mitt but the ball hits his palm and slaps out again, falling to the turf by the bowler’s feet. Tricky but they often stick.
Eeeesht – Starc sprays one well wide of off stump and Imam leans back to try and smear it over the off side, connecting only with the Melbourne breeze. Not the shot of a man clinging on for lunch. Starc goes full again and this time Imam times it perfectly, the ball skimming to the boundary like a pebble on glass. A dot ends the over and the session. Another fascinating couple of hours in this Test – Pakistan need 292 runs and have 9 wickets remaining.
9th over: Pakistan 25-1 (Imam 6, Masood 12)
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8th over: Pakistan 21-1 (Imam 1, Masood 12) Drama! Lyon pins Masood in front, the ball sliding past the batter’s forward prod and thudding into the knee roll. Lyon appeals confidently and with a giggle, the umpire raises the finger and gives the Pakistan captain OUT! Masood consults with Imam and sends it upstairs…. pitched in line, hit in line – MISSING! DRS shows the ball going just over the top of the bails and Masood survives!
Shan Masood survives! Joel Wilson gives him out LBW but he reviews successfully.#AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/T9PG9i39HO
— Grassroots Cricket (@grassrootscric) December 29, 2023
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7th over: Pakistan 20-1 (Imam 0, Masood 12) Well batted Shan Masood. After taking the hit in the last over he flicks a Starc yorker away with aplomb and follows that up with another boundary, guiding with velvet hands past point for four more. Nathan Lyon is coming on to bowl, we might get a couple of overs in before lunch. Can Pakistan survive to the interval without any further losses?
6th over: Pakistan 10-1 (Imam 0, Masood 2) Ouch! Hazlewood spears one in short this time and Masood misses the pull shot – the ball thwomping into his stomach. The tv coverage clocks the blow at 108kph at moment of impact. Masood takes a couple of moments to get his breath back. Let’s hope it’s just a bruise and not a broken rib or something similar. He survives the over. Just about.
5th over: Pakistan 9-1 (Imam 0, Masood 1) Pakistan skipper Shan Masood is in early at first drop and he has to contend with Mitchell Starc steaming in with his dander well and truly elevated. Starc gifts a bit of width and Masood carves with an angled bat to pick up a single. Pakistan need to make it through the next ten minutes to lunch without losing any more.
WICKET! Abdullah Shafique c Khawaja b Starc 4 (Pakistan 8-1)
The pressure does tell! Shafique is drawn into a wafty drive to a ball outside off that he could have left well alone. The edge flies at chest height to Khawaja in the slips and he makes no mistake with the catch. Poor Shafique will not look back on this match with fond memories, he could have done with a score to atone for his careless digits in the field.
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4th over: Pakistan 8-0 (Shafique 4, Imam 0) Imam hangs his bat outside of off stump limply - like a beleaguered angler – and somehow manages to not edge Josh Hazlewood. Another maiden reeled* off, that’s three in a row. Pressure building, is something gonna give before lunch?
*I know. You know.
3rd over: Pakistan 8-0 (Shafique 4, Imam 0) Starc keeps Shafique honest with a sharp over – bouncer, full ball, back of a length, length – all with the threat of late movement. Another maiden.
2nd over: Pakistan 8-0 (Shafique 4, Imam 0) Josh Hazlewood starts at the other end and muzzles the chase with a probing over – skimming one past Imam’s edge.
1st over: Pakistan 8-0 (Shafique 4, Imam 0) Starc shapes the first ball back in and is met with a full face of Shafique’s bat as the opener drives down the ground for a couple to kick off the run chase. A nice clip for two through leg brings Shafique another couple and a fruitful first over for Pakistan ends with four leg-byes as Starc spears in a full ball that clips the boot down the leg side and whistles away for four.
Pakistan fans – what were you worried about?
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Here come the Pakistan openers – Abdullah Shafique (who owes his side a few …) and Imam-ul-Haq take guard. Mitch Starc has the new orb in his hand. Things crank up a notch … and that’s just here on my parents’ sofa as I crack open approx 330ml of continental lager and a bag of cashews at ONE AM. Woah now.
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HoHoHo
Alex Carey's Test batting average:
— Nic Savage (@nic_savage1) December 29, 2023
Before falling in Karachi hotel pool - 20.20
After falling in Karachi hotel pool - 42.94
After being accused of stealing a haircut - 15.57
After Richard Illingworth got stuck in lift - 53.00#AUSvPAK
Australia all out for 262 – Pakistan need 317 runs to win
Alex Carey is pinned lbw by Mir Hamza for a well made 53 and that is the end of the innings. A tricky session in store for Pakistan’s openers with lunch about twenty minutes away, they need to make it through unscathed and then set about hauling this target down bit by bit. It’ll need one of their batters to make a hundred against this gun Aussie bowling line up. An intriguing few hours await – Where’s your money?
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83rd over: Australia 262-9 (Carey 53, Hazlewood 1) Josh Hazlewood plinks a drive to get off the mark. Carey swings his blade at a few but can’t connect. A scampered single off the final ball sees him keep strike for the next over though.
83rd over: Australia 260-9 (Carey 52, Hazlewood 0) That’s fifty for Alex Carey – a punch through the off side is played with swiss-clock timing and skims away across the manicured MCG turf to the boundary. A warm round of applause from the crowd and a bashful wave of the bat. The lead is up to 315, Pakistan need to finish this off 20 minutes ago.
82nd over: Australia 256-9 (Carey 48, Hazlewood 0) Shaheen goes for the searing yorker but Carey digs it out with precision and timing - the ball hurtling away through midwicket for four! A tuck off the pad sees Carey keep strike. Important runs for both the man and the team.
81st over: Australia 251-9 (Carey 43, Hazlewood 0) Alex Carey hasn’t made fifty in a Test match since Edgbaston and the first Ashes Test of the English Summer, he needs eight more to make what would potentially be a career influencing milestone. Make that seven more, Mir Hamza takes the new ball and Carey punches away into the off side for a single.
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80th over: Australia 250-9 (Carey 42, Hazlewood 0) Shaheen returns and stitches a maiden together. The new ball is now available.
Travis Head turns 30 today
— Swamp (@sirswampthing) December 28, 2023
Leaves Marnus Labuschagne as the only non-30 year old in the Aussie side for this Test
Marnus, at 29y 190d, is the oldest youngest player for any AUS Text XI
@CricketAus #AUSvPAK
WICKET! Lyon b Aamer Jamal 11 (Australia 249-9)
Lyon plays a delicious late glide through point to pick up four runs. He follows that up with a swivel off the hip to send a short ball from Jamal whistling away to the square leg boundary. That is the 300 lead up for Australia. Stumps splattered! Jamal gets one to nip back at Lyon who looks to play a booming drive with his front foot in a different postal code to the where the ball pitches. The timbers are ripped from the turf and Australia are down to their last man – enter Josh Hazelwood.
79th over: Australia 249-9 (Carey 42, Hazlewood)
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78th over: Australia 239-8 (Carey 42, Lyon 1) Australia pocket a couple off Salman’s latest. Pakistan have a spring in their step as they look to polish off the innings. There’s some debate about whether Cummins did actually knick the wicket ball, it could have been a spike scrape or a creak of the handle but the fact the noise and snicko spike matched up exactly with when the ball was passing the bat meant the third umpire had to give it.
No hot spot, but there is a little spike, so Cummins has to go #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/7F4z2EQswj
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 29, 2023
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77th over: Australia 237-8 (Carey 41, Lyon 0) Nathan Lyon replaces Cummins and pats back three short of a length deliveries from Jamal. Australia have two wickets remaining and a lead of 291. Don’t go anywhere.
WICKET! Cummins c Mohammad Rizwan b Aamer Jamal (Australia 237-8)
A teensy tiny inside edge and umpire Gough raises his finger. Jamal celebrates, he is confident that Cummins got a tickle on it but the Australian captain sends it upstairs immediately … nothing on hot spot … no big deflection on the slow-mo… A LITTLE SPIKE shows up on the snicko and that is enough to validate umpire Gough’s decision on the field and see Cummins on his way.
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76th over: Australia 235-7 (Carey 41, Cummins 14) Salman is worked for three singles as the 300 lead looms for the home side. Pakistan beginning to look a little flat as this partnership starts to become more established.
75th over: Australia 232-7 (Carey 40, Cummins 12) Buzzers! Aamer Jamal replaces Shaheen, Cummins eases into the off side for a single but the throw that comes in is loosey goosey, fizzes past the fielders near the wicket and away for four overthrows that Pakistan can ill afford. Carey makes it a very decent over for Australia, playing with soft hands and an angled bat to glide a length ball between slips and point for four. Ten off the over – the lead stands at 286.
74th over: Australia 222-7 (Carey 35, Cummins 7) We’ve got some spin, Salman replaces Hasan Ali. A tidy over to begin with, he gives Cummins a working over around the front pad and then draws a chunky edge from the Aussie skipper that runs away past backward point for a couple.
73rd over: Australia 220-7 (Carey 35, Cummins 5) Shot! Shaheen digs in another short ball and Alex Carey gets his limbo on, leaning underneath it and uppercutting away for four runs.
72nd over: Australia 216-7 (Carey 31, Cummins 5) Hasan Ali does look nice and loose, Carey works a full ball into the on side for a single and that’s the only run off the over as both sides size each other up, someone’s gotta blink soon.
71st over: Australia 215-7 (Carey 30, Cummins 5) Carey drops and runs for a single. Shaheen gives Cummins a friendly barrage of short stuff to keep it to just one from the over. Weirdly, this is exactly how I got loose for this OBO shift:
Get your body moving with Hasan Ali! #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/8Y0ltpInXx
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 28, 2023
70th over: Australia 214-7 (Carey 29, Cummins 5) Cummins picks up two with a drive into the off side. He’ll know how important every run is in this situation and will want to hang around to support Carey. Another compact but checked drive into the covers brings another brace for Big Patty.
WICKET! Starc c Babar Azam b Shaheen Shah Afridi 9 (Australia 209-7)
69th over: Australia 210-7 (Carey 29, Cummins 1)
Gone! Flat footed drive by Starc off a length ball from Shaheen, the edge carries to Babar Azam who clings onto a sharp catch at first slip.
The lead is currently 265 runs for Australia. Captain Pat Cummins joins Carey in the middle and gets off the mark first ball with a tuck off his hip into the leg side. Game very much ON.
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68th over: Australia 208-6 (Carey 28, Starc 9) Hasan Ali continues with three slips in place. To my eye it looks like there are huge gaps between each of them. A ludicrously capacious corden?
Three single off the over as Australia nudge the target that bit more out of reach.
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67th over: Australia 204-6 (Carey 26, Starc 8) Carey is watchful, Shaheen pegs him back, just a single from a late glide behind point.
66th over: Australia 204-6 (Carey 25, Starc 8) Starc gets a meaty edge off Hasan Ali that flies wide and safe of Salman in the cordon. A flicker of a finger on it but nothing more.
Do get in touch if you are tuning in, good cheer optional. Come one, come all.
Betwixtmas OBOing for@guardian_sport / @GuardianAus
— Jim Wallace (@Jimbo_Cricket) December 28, 2023
Send me some figgy emails 👇📩 https://t.co/RO6oRVKlLu
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65th over: Australia 198-6 (Carey 24, Starc 3) Shaheen keeps Starc honest with four dot balls, a mixture of full and short stuff. The lead nudges over 250 as Starc bunts a mistimed drive over the in-field to get off the mark with a couple. Starc is looking a bit twitchy against the well directed short ball, he might get a bit more of that rather than the fuller stuff he can throw the hands at.
64th over: Australia 195-6 (Carey 24, Starc 0) An important innings this for Alex Carey, the keeper- batter is one of the few cogs in the Aussie machine who has a question mark shaped cloud or two lingering over his place. A punchy 50 here that puts the game beyond Pakistan could go a long way to dissipating them.
That’ll help – Carey tucks Hasan Ali off his hip for the first four of the day and then follows up with a perfectly crisp drive through cover for four more!
63rd over: Australia 187-6 (Carey 16, Starc 0) Starc sees out three dots from Shaheen to start the day. Australia will be keen not to give Pakistan an early wicket, if they do then the visitors’ collective dander will be well up and they’ll fancy their chances of keeping their fourth innings target to less than 300.
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Here come the players, Alex Carey is striding out to the crease with Mitch Starc in tow. Shaheen has three balls to finish in his over from last night. Sun beating down strongly on the MCG turf and crowd a sparse crowd filing in. Let’s play!
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A Hollowing Out of The Spirit
That drop from Abdullah Shafique really was a seismic moment in the game. He’d already shelled a couple of chances prior to the Marsh drop too. There’s no worse feeling in cricket.
Time to update the below from Marco Jansen to Abdullah Shafique.
What Shafique would give to go back to that earlier hour, or even back to the distant land of 20 seconds ago, to get another chance, put it all right. But he can’t. He has to live with it. The drop. The shame and the embarrassment gurgling in the pit of his stomach, the white-hot surging guilt that he has let himself and more painfully his teammates down. Their initial gasps of shock and cursing betray them even if now they’ve settled into torturous leaden silence, broken only by the jeers of the crowd and eventually hollow, consolatory platitudes.
The disappointment clings to Shafique like a shroud. Some element of it will stay with him forever. Etched in his psyche, felt in his bones. The agony of a dropped catch can never fully be forgotten.
Cricket and failure are familiar bedfellows but there’s a particular kind of griping wretchedness that accompanies a spilled chance. It’s the worst feeling to endure on a cricket field. Forget embarrassingly expensive, wide, no-ball or boundary-blighted overs as a bowler. The ignominy of a golden duck or the heartbreak of a dismissal on 99 for a batter, a dropped catch is the worst. Don’t just take my word for it.
The cricket writer Jon Hotten is also a (very) keen amateur cricketer. Well, batter. In his latest book, Bat, Ball and Field – the Elements of
Cricket, Hotten holds court beautifully on all aspects of the game:
“The best place to put a duffer is mid-on,” was WG Grace’s take on “hiding” less able fielders. Hotten has spent thousands of overs in his playing career camped just there. “For most of the years I have played I have hated fielding, it was simply the trade off with the chance to bat” he confesses. “It was usually boring and tiring, but with an edge of terror too, a fear and loathing of a mistake and how it will make you feel.”
He describes dropping a catch as a “hollowing out of the spirit”. It’s a perfect, description. Beautiful and desolate.
Anyone that has ever played the game for any length of time will be familiar with the feeling. If you aren’t then you are either incredibly lucky, unfathomably good or still in denial, blaming the hedgerows, a passing bird, an ill-timed car horn, foggy contact lenses … anything.
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Mitchell Marsh has been giving a few interviews.
On setting a total: “I think if we were all out now we would feel very much in the game … I don’t necessarily want to put a number on it for our bowlers, but we know that they can certainly hold the bat.
“A couple of good partnerships with some tired bowlers now, hopefully we can get up towards the 300 mark, but I guess anything from here we’ll take.”
On the MCG wicket: “We’re now deep into the third innings yet bowlers are still massively in the game, and that bodes well for us if we can get a few more runs.”
“With our bowlers, hopefully there’s still enough seam movement – certainly with the new ball. It sort of died off a little bit around the 35-over mark … But there’s still enough and I guess that’s what you want, you want it to be entertaining.”
Mitch wants entertainment, laaaa la la la la la
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to the day four OBO of Australia v Pakistan from the MCG. Yesterday was a fantastically absorbing day of Test match cricket, Pakistan landing emphatic early blows with the new ball in Australia’s second innings to leave them 16-4 and on teetering tectonics.
Australia had a lead of just 70 runs at that stage and had eked their way to a lead of 100 runs when the biggest moment in the day, Test match and perhaps even the series happened: Abdullah Shaffique dropped a sitter in the slips off Mitchell Marsh (on 20 at the time). Marsh and Steve Smith went on to bat Australia back on to terra firma and beyond, Marsh eventually falling to a scintillating slip catch by Salman Agha six short of a deserved century.
We’ll get into that dropped catch in just a moment. As we head into day four though the facts stand as this: Australia lead by 241 runs and have four wickets left to get as many runs as possible. Pakistan will want to blow away Alex Carey and the tail and set about the job with bat in hand as soon as possible. They always say it, but a HUGE first hour coming right up.
Play starts (half an hour early) at 10am AEDT and 11pm here in Blighty. James Wallace here with you in the betwixtmas bosom of my childhood home in the Peak District. The tree is twinkling and the fire is crackling. Geoff Lemon will tag in for the second session live from the MCG. Let’s do this.
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