Day 3: Cummins sparks Pakistan collapse

Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc stunned Pakistan’s batting lineup with some outstanding reverse swing bowling.

Pakistan was going well with a score of 248-3 but the dismissal of Fawad Alam opened the gate for Australia as they thrashed the hosts batting.

Pakistan was bowled out for 268 runs, losing their last 7 wickets for 20 runs.

Australia   1st innings   391 all-out

Khawaja 91               Naseem 4-58                                                                                                                                   Green 79                   Shaheen 4-79                                                                                                                               Carey 67                    Nauman 1-77

Pakistan   1st innings    268 all-out

Abdullah 81            Cummins 5-56                                                                                                                                  Azhar 78                  Starc 4-33                                                                                                                                                                Babar 67                  Lyon 1-95

Australia        2^nd innings       11-0

Khawaja 7*                                                                                                                                                                   Warner 4*

Australia suddenly brought life to this Test match due to the match-changing spells from Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc and are the favorites to win this match now.

Pakistan was ahead at 248-3 but as things stand, Australia has a huge opportunity to win this historic Test series by 1-0 and gain some crucial Test Championship Points.

The skipper Pat Cummins claimed a magnificent five-for while Mitchell Starc picked up 4 wickets.

Bright start from Shafique and Azhar

Pakistan started the day brilliantly as Abdullah Shafique and Azhar Ali continued their innings from where they left yesterday.

Both of them completed their half-centuries and Pakistan went for lunch without losing any wicket. Abdullah Shafique is a great find for Pakistan and he has been exceptional throughout this series.

He was again looking good but once again he failed to reach his hundred as he got caught behind on Nathan Lyon’s bowling after scoring 81 runs.

Babar Azam then joined Azhar Ali after his dismissal and showed his class right from the start.

Azhar Ali looked in complete control and he stayed patient even after the dismissal of Abdullah Shafique.

The right-handed veteran batsman showed his class with some outstanding boundaries but unfortunately, he also failed to score a hundred and got out after scoring a brilliant knock of 78 runs.

Cummins took a mind-blowing catch off his own bowling to dismiss Azhar Ali.

During his inning, Azhar Ali reached became the 5^th Pakistani batsman to reach the 7000 run mark.

Babar completed his half-century to continue his excellent form but didn’t get enough support from the other end after the dismissal of Azhar Ali.

Pakistan suffer record-breaking collapse

Pakistan faced an unbelievable collapse as their last 7 wickets went down for only 20 runs.

Fawad Alam’s poor show with the bat in this series continues as he was bowled out Mitchell Starc after scoring only 13 runs.

After his departure, the Pakistani batting lineup fumbled, Rizwan was also bowled out for only 1 run by Starc due to an unplayable reverse swing delivery.

Pakistan badly missed Faheem Ashraf in their batting lineup as Pakistan lost their last 5 wickets in less than 5 runs.

Cummins dismissed Sajid, Nauman, and Hasan Ali cheaply while Starc came back to remove the Babar Azam, who was stunned on the other end at his team’s collapse.

Babar scored 67 runs.

Pakistan was all-out on 268 runs giving Australia a lead of 123 runs.

Australia openers negotiated the 3 overs before stumps and Australia will continue their innings from 11-0 tomorrow and they will be looking to set a good total for Pakistan in the 4^th innings.

Brilliant stuff from Cummins and Starc

Pat Cummins bowled beautifully and became the first pacer of the series to grab a five-wicket haul.

He was well-supported by Mitchell Starc who also registered a four-for.

Both of them were brilliant with the old bowl and their reverse swing in the last 90 minutes of the day had put Australia in full command of this Test match.