CRICKET
Day 3: Strong reply by Aussie openers
Usman Khawaja and David Warner gave Australia a very good start to set up the tone for the Australian reply.
The number 1 ranked Test batsman, Marnus Labuschagne is also looking well settled for a big one.
Pakistan managed to grab only two wickets in the whole day as Bad light once again forced an early stump on day 3.
Pakistan 1st innings 476-4 Dec
Azhar 185 Labuschagne 1-53 Imam 157 Cummins 1-62 Babar 36 Lyon 1-163
Australia 1st innings 271-2
Khawaja 97 Nauman 1-49 Labuschagne 69* Sajid 1-94 Warner 68
Usman Khawaja and David Warner played brilliantly today against the Pakistani seamers early on and gave an outstanding start to the Australian side.
Both of them played patiently against the superb opening spell of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah.
Shaheen even managed to get an edge of Usman Khawaja’s bat but Fawad Alam missed the chance at gully position.
After that dropped chance Khawaja made the Pakistani bowlers pay and scored a brilliant half-century.
Warner’s half-century
David Warner was looking uncomfortable with the new ball early on as Shaheen and Naseem were bowling with great lines and lengths but his experience helped him to survive the tough period.
He then showed his class in front of the energetic Pindi crowd.
Warner played well for his half-century but after scoring 68 runs, he was bowled out by the spinner Sajid Khan and the 156 runs stand between the two openers came to an end.
David Warner smashed 12 boundaries in his outstanding knock.
Khawaja sparkles
Usman Khawaja hasn’t got enough chances from the Australian cricket team but whenever a chance arrived, Khawaja delivered it with full passion and energy.
Khawaja again performed and gave an excellent start to his side.
The left-handed batsman who originally belongs to Pakistan performed in front of his home crowd which is a proud moment for him.
Khawaja played a magnificent knock but unfortunately, he missed his century by only 3 runs as he played a very poor shot to fall on 97 runs.
He played a reverse sweep that went straight into the hands of Imam-ul-Haq at forward short leg.
Although Australia lost both their openers but Marnus Labuschagne continued the innings and scored runs at a good pace.
He completed his 13th half-century in Test cricket and proved why he is the number 1 ranked Test batsman.
Marnus Labuschagne is still unbeaten on 69 runs and he smacked 9 fours in his inning.
He is still batting alongside Steve Smith who is batting on 24 runs.
The pitch is totally flat and it doesn’t seem that it will get better on day 4 so, it is a fantastic opportunity for Smith and Labuschagne to score a big hundred on Pakistan soil.
Sajid Khan and Nauman Ali picked up 1 wicket each and this historic Test match between Australia and Pakistan is heading towards a draw.