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Moving day has arrived in Perth as Pakistan tries to withstand Australia’s push for victory in the first Test.
The battle between Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Babar Azam promises to be entertaining.
The visitors reduced the lead to 355 runs on day two, but Australia is still in the driver’s seat thanks to the late wicket of Pakistan captain Shan Masood.
FOLLOW all the key talking points from day three below.
DAY TWO RECAP: MARSH FALLS SHORT OF TON, PAKISTAN FIGHTS
DAY 3 LIVE
with Tim Michell
1.40PM: CAN AUSSIES GET BABAR, BREAK PAKISTAN RESISTANCE?
Babar Azam always loomed as the key wicket and his early arrival on day three has given Australia a golden opportunity to expose Pakistan’s middle and lower-order.
One of the top-ranked Test batters in the world, Babar averages 44.4 against Australia and scored a century and 97 when Pakistan last toured in 2019.
“Hopefully he’ll come out and he’ll come out positive. Captaincy has been taken away from him and he looked very relaxed,” Pakistan legend Waqar Younis told Channel 7.
“I think that will really help him going forward. He’s a class act we can’t really wait to see him bat out there.”
Ricky Ponting pinpointed one area wher Babar must improve.
“He’s class. Simple as that. You look at his overall record – he probably hasn’t made the hundreds that you would expect of such a quality player. I think he’s got nine hundreds and 26 fifties in 49 games. That’s the area of his game that he will want to change and want to improve,” he said.
1.22PM: WICKET FALLS, CRAZY RUN IN CHAOTIC START
Pat Cummins has taken three balls to break through on day three with his first wicket, skittling nightwatchman Khurram Shahzad.
It came two balls after Shahzad was almost ran out on the opening deliver of the day when Imam-ul-Haq called him through for a sharp single.
Travis Head had three stumps to hit but missed, gifting Shahzad a life.
Not that it cost Australia in the end thanks to a ball from Cummins which would have been too good for many batters, let alone a nightwatchman.
Mark Waugh described the calling from ul-Haq as “horrendous”.
“It should have been (a run out),” Waugh said on Fox Cricket.
“That was just a horrendous call from Imam-ul-Haq first ball.
“Shahzad was just getting himself together at the non-strikers end, he wasn’t even thinking about a run.
“And it really should have been out. He had a good look at the stumps there, Travis Head.
“That’s comical, that running.”
CA PUSHING TO PROVIDE GREATER FIXTURE CERTAINTY
Daniel Cherny
Cricket Australia wants to lock away a long-term order for the home Test summer, but whether Perth or Brisbane ends up at the front of the queue remains to be seen.
A combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and a later start to the current Test series against Pakistan because of the World Cup pushing deep into November has made for a disjointed calendar in recent summers, with the long-time rhythm of a start at the Gabba in November culminating with the SCG Test in early January being disrupted.
But with border closures no longer an issue, and with CA being given an indication from the ICC about the likely composition of the Future Tours Program stretching through to 2031, CA wants to end the annual uncertainty around the Test calendar.
Brisbane had been the traditional first-Test venue through much of the 1990s and 2000s however its grip over the season-starter has loosened over the past decade.
Complicating the situation further is the fact the Gabba will be out of action after the Ashes Test in late 2025 for four years as part of its redevelopment ahead of the 2032 Olympics.
A replacement Test venue in Queensland during the intervening years is yet to be confirmed.
Australia has been hugely successful at the Gabba over the past 35 years, with its sole Test defeat at the venue coming in January 2021, when the home series against India finished at the ground.
CA chief Nick Hockley said he wanted to ensure fans had greater certainty around when and where Tests would be played.
“We’re working that through at the moment, (having) discussion with cricket associations, venues and government partners right around the country,” Hockley told this masthead.
“On not only next summer’s schedule but also the schedule for the next seven years going forward. So our aim is to give everyone clarity and certainty over the forward schedule so that we can all work together to make Test cricket as big as it can possibly be.
“Over the last few years, there has been a level of flexibility to the order (of the) Tests.
“What we’d ideally like to do over the next program as far as it’s possible, is to get a level of consistency.
“(For) cricket fans here but also visiting fans around the world know when they can they can build their plans, and ultimately it’s (about) getting as many people to the ground as possible.”
India is due to visit for five Tests next summer. Hockley would not indicate as to where that series will begin.
This is the second straight summer in which Optus Stadium has hosted the first Test. After underwhelming crowds last summer against the West Indies, CA and the WACA have worked diligently to grow excitement around this summer’s fixture. While well short of WACA chief Christina Matthews’ ambitions of 25,000, the crowd of 16,259 on day one of this week’s Test was the highest ever for a day’s Test cricket between Australia and Pakistan in Perth.
Originally published as Australia v Pakistan: First test, day three live: Scorecard, news, updates from Perth
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