Melbourne: Australia won the second cricket test against Pakistan by 79 runs.
Score: Australia 1st innings 318, 2nd innings 262. Pakistan 1st innings 264, 2nd innings 237.
The Aussies won the three-Test series 2-0. Chasing the target of 371 runs, Pakistan managed to keep their hopes alive. Aussie skipper Pat Cummins’ five-wicket haul ruined Pakistan’s tally. Mitchell Starc also took four wickets. A wicket for Josh Hazlewood. Pat Cummins was the star of the match as he took ten wickets in both innings.
Half-centuries from skipper Shan Masood (60 off 71 balls) and Agha Salman (50 off 70 balls) and Babar Azam (41) and Mohammad Rizwan (35 off 62 balls including a six and three fours) caused concern in the Aussie line-up. Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mir Hamza returned without a run. Openers Abdullah Shafiq (four) and Imam-ul-Haq (12) returned without much resistance. This is the 16th consecutive Test loss for Pakistan in Australia. Pakistan’s losing streak starts from 1999. This is the longest losing streak by a team in Tests. Bangladesh team’s record of 13 defeats from 2001 to 2004 was broken in front of Pakistan.
After Alan Border, Cummins is the Australian captain who has taken ten wickets in a Test. Allan Border took ten wickets in the 1989 Sydney Test. Border took seven wickets in the first innings and four in the second innings. The former captain took 11 wickets conceding 96 runs and Cummins took 10 wickets conceding 97 runs.
Cummins is the 12th captain to take 10 wickets in a Test. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan is just ahead of Cummins. The incident took place in the 2019 Test against Bangladesh. South Africa’s Dale Steyn was the bowler who took 10 wickets before Cummins in Melbourne. Bruce Reid was the last Aussie pacer to take 10 wickets in Melbourne. Reid took a total of 12 wickets in the 1991 Test against India. Cummins also took 250 wickets in Tests. He is the 10th Aussie bowler to achieve this feat. Shane Warne (708), Glenn McGrath (563), Nathan Lyon (503), Dennis Lillee (355), Mitchell Starc (342), Mitchell Johnson (313), Brett Lee (310), Craig McDermott (291), Jason Gillespie (259) are the predecessors. The 30-year-old Cummins took his 250th wicket in the 57th Test. In Melbourne, the Pacers were crushed but could not win. They took 19 wickets.
2023-12-29 19:46:00
#Pakistan #kneels #Melbourne
