Key events
Stumps – Australia 346 for 5, Marsh 15, Carey 14
That’s it for the day, with six overs left unbowled despite the extra half hour. It was a day all about David Warner, whose place in the team has been questioned by plenty of people after his declining returns in Test cricket. But he loves playing Pakistan, now averaging 88 against them, and he towelled them up again today. Finished with 164, after a century opening stand with Usman Khawaja. Set up Australia’s strong position here.
Pakistan have fought back a bit in that final session, but their bowling was terrible early and their fielding missed three chances: Khawaja, Warner, Warner. Australia will demolish them without early wickets tomorrow.
We’ll be back with you for Day 2, of course. See you then.
84th over: Australia 346-5 (Marsh 15, Carey 14) “Got him, last ball of the day, can you believe that?” Just about. Shahzad bowls a ripping final over, beating Marsh once before bowling the final ball of his over, one that angles in and then seams away at pace, only beating the edge because it jags too far. Marsh was nowhere. He holds his pose and just looks at the line where the ball travelled, before laughing in relief. He has survived.
83rd over: Australia 346-5 (Marsh 15, Carey 14) Shaheen getting a bit of movement through the air, but no reward. Swings it in to draw an lbw appeal, gets another holding its line to beat Carey’s edge. But in between times he swings one too far and Carey glances four.
82nd over: Australia 342-5 (Marsh 15, Carey 10) Even late in the day, you can’t stop Marsh hooking. Only one man out on the leg side, so it’s an easy strike through backward square leg. Shahzad otherwise keeps the over tidy.
81st over: Australia 338-5 (Marsh 11, Carey 10) New ball! One last burst for Shaheen, who looks a little weary after his 17 overs already today. Moustachioed Marsh shapes up. Blocks, beaten, drives a couple square. Two slips and a gully wait, On the pads, angling down, kicked to square leg for an extra.
80th over: Australia 335-5 (Marsh 10, Carey 9) A second scoreless over for Agha Salman, who fools Carey a couple of times as Carey attempts a shot.
79th over: Australia 335-5 (Marsh 10, Carey 9) Jamal gets another to go! Late in the day, angling in to the left-hander, the ball deviates off the surface and zips between bat and pad. Near the stumps. Carey gets off strike with a miscued push. Marsh middles a pull shot but only one run to the sweeper, and that lets Carey lay back and play his first authoritative shot of the match, cutting nicely in front of point for four.
78th over: Australia 328-5 (Marsh 8, Carey 5) Agha Salman continuing, Carey probably fairly comfortable against the spin. Ticks over the singles.
77th over: Australia 325-5 (Marsh 7, Carey 3) Jamal to Carey, more bouncers, more ducking. Eventually dabs a run. Marsh is playing pretty circumspectly now as well.
76th over: Australia 323-5 (Marsh 7, Carey 2) Suddenly things quiet down, with Carey facing out a Faheem over and keeping strike off the last ball.
75th over: Australia 322-5 (Marsh 7, Carey 1) Big innings in Alex Carey’s career. He needs some runs this series to shore up his spot, with Josh Inglis locking down the one-day position. Pakistan will know this is their chance. Keep taking wickets and they could keep Australia under 400. Far more often on Australian soil though, it’s the middle and lower order taking the game away.
WICKET! Warner c Imam b Shahzad 164, Australia 321-5
Third time lucky for Warner, fourth time lucky for Shahzad. The bowler has one very obvious plan: bowl in at the right shoulder of Warner, bouncers on a leg stump line. Warner has one response: turn square and try to shovel a pull shot up and over deep fine leg. The first one, misses. Second one, misses. Third one, connects and hits it for six. So Shahzad goes a fourth time, and this time Warner hits it to one of the many fielders waiting for this shot, out at deep backward square leg. That was tired batting, with 40 minutes to go until stumps.
74th over: Australia 315-4 (Warner 158, Marsh 7) Long spell for Agha Salman continues, he has bowled through this session. Warner top edges three runs into the leg side.
73rd over: Australia 310-4 (Warner 154, Marsh 6) Big cheers for the local hero, Mitchell Marsh emerging from the stand, and after a solitary leave he gets going with a stride forward and a creamed cover drive for four. Then leans back and forces a couple more.
WICKET! Head c Salman b Jamal 40, Australia 304-4
That’s Travis Head! The same way he got out out twice at this ground against India in 2018. A new spell from Aamer Jamal, first ball is wide and yuck, but Head lamps it down to deep third anyway and is caught. You get the fun of his shots that come off, and the result of these ones that don’t.
72nd over: Australia 304-3 (Warner 154, Head 40) A few more from the spinner…
71st over: Australia 300-3 (Warner 151, Head 39) Dismissed for four. That’s filth from Faheem: chest high, wide of off stump, sitting up at about 125 clicks. Head belts the pull to raise the team’s 300.
70th over: Australia 294-3 (Warner 150, Head 34) The ground DJ is pumping that song from Bring It On, the one that all of the copycat cheerleading routines get set to. Classic cricket tune, love hearing that at top level. Warner comes back from drinks to cut a single and raise 150, the most overrated milestone in the game. After one more dot against spin, Travis Head breaks out by advancing and punting Agha Salman over mid on for four.
69th over: Australia 288-3 (Warner 149, Head 29) Warner watchful against Faheem before drinks, the seamer getting a little life out of this pitch. Warner eventually pulls a run, having to crab around as the ball doesn’t get up. Then Head slices a leading edge behind point, trying to play to leg, but the onrushing fielder halfway back at deep third can’t reach it. Deliberately placed there for a false shot given Head’s proclivity to attack outside off stump, but the plan doesn’t come off.
68th over: Australia 287-3 (Warner 148, Head 29) A maiden! Agha Salman to Head, who has now faced 21 dot balls from the off-spinner. This is an interesting sub-battle.
67th over: Australia 287-3 (Warner 148, Head 29) Faheem drops short, Warner pounds a bull shot… wait, I meant a pull shot, but that’s a good typo. It beats the deep midwicket fielder coming in, but he manages to track back to the very long square boundary and dive to catch up with the ball and keep the scoring to three.
Warner now has only six bigger Test scores than this.
66th over: Australia 281-3 (Warner 144, Head 27) Agha Salman, off spin, three singles. You have all of the information you need.
65th over: Australia 278-3 (Warner 142, Head 26) Faheem Ashraf returns, keeping Shaheen to a short spell. Another boundary for Head, this ball almost off the pitch across the left-hander but he goes after it nonetheless and belts it through cover.
64th over: Australia 271-3 (Warner 141, Head 20) Double miss? Warner doesn’t hit that. Shuffles at Agha Salman, looks for a moment like he edges the ball at the keeper but that was all turn and bounce. Uncharacteristic It hits Sarfaraz on the left shoulder, so there’s a stumping missed, and ricochets to slip, who is a moment too slow to realise that Warner is still out of his ground, and so rushes the throw as Warner gets back. The run out misses too. They run a bye before Head gets low and sweeps four runs fine.
63rd over: Australia 266-3 (Warner 141, Head 16) Warner again off the ground to play pace to leg. Head belts a single to short cover. Runs from Shaheen keep coming.
62nd over: Australia 263-3 (Warner 139, Head 15) Again, Head doesn’t score from the off-spinner after Warner turns over the strike, taking his career runs tally past Matthew Hayden’s 8625. For Australia, that leaves Clarke, Smith, Waugh, Border and Ponting ahead of him.
61st over: Australia 262-3 (Warner 138, Head 15) Warner has made a lot of small hundreds. This one is already into his top ten. Tucks another run away, jumping. Shaheen Afridi is back on, Pakistan desperate for a wicket. Instead Travis Head genuflects and slashes a cover cut more than a cover drive to width, running two.
60th over: Australia 258-3 (Warner 137, Head 12) It felt like that was on the way! Not the worst ball from Agha Salman, Warner isn’t right to the pitch, but the surface isn’t doing anything and Warner gets close enough. Dropping to one knee lets him lunge forward at the ball, and he follows through with a huge cross-batted hit over long on. Not exactly a slog sweep, so straight is it struck, but with something of that early movement. High over long on for six.
59th over: Australia 252-3 (Warner 131, Head 12) Gifts for Head, almost off the pitch such was the width from Shahzad. Head launches a cut shot over forward point for four. Then plays more stylishly to a better ball, dipping at the knees to time a powerful back-cut from closer to his body, same result. Twelve runs, three scoring shots, the Head method.
58th over: Australia 243-3 (Warner 130, Head 4) Warner takes a single from the off-spinner first ball, then to the surprise of all present, Head does not try to murder each subsequent delivery. He plays at them all, but only pushing rather than whacking. Five dots.
57th over: Australia 242-3 (Warner 129, Head 4) A warm ovation for Travis Head, the man of Australian cricket’s moment along with the absent Glenn Maxwell, and Head treats his supporters by getting down on one knee to slam a cover drive for four. Four from two ball. Strike rate: 200.
WICKET! Smith c Sarfaraz b Shahzad, Australia 238-3
One out of nowhere! Khurram Shahzad has bowled well to Smith, and now gets his reward. Two balls back of a length angle in, then the bowler goes a touch wider and Smith gets sucked in. Prods at the ball, edges for the keeper to catch it falling away to his right. Smith is furious. Shouts at himself as he leaves the field for playing at that. Nice delivery, slight away movement off the surface.
56th over: Australia 238-2 (Warner 129, Smith 31) Slog sweep comes out for Warner, battering Agha Salman for four.
55th over: Australia 230-2 (Warner 123, Smith 29) Shahzad continues to Smith, who does play one aggressive shot with a cut to backward point but it’s well fielded with a dive to prevent any run. Smith sees out the rest of the over.
54th over: Australia 230-2 (Warner 123, Smith 29) Thumped by Warner. Down the pitch to Agha Salman, hits him straight and it just reaches the rope on the full – six runs. Adds a single to move to 123, easy as ABC.
53rd over: Australia 222-2 (Warner 116, Smith 28) An error drawn by Shahzad! Gets the inside edge of Smith’s bat, nearly gets his wicket, but the deflection streaks past leg stump for four.
52nd over: Australia 217-2 (Warner 115, Smith 24) Warner chops the spinner Agha Salman away for a couple. Then some singles. How many can he make today? Bat through to stumps and go huge?
51st over: Australia 212-2 (Warner 111, Smith 23) We are indeed back. Khurram Shahzad with a big smile on his face at the top of his mark. Pakistan’s players gathered in a circle on the boundary edge before the session in a way that suggested some intensity. They haven’t given up. But it’s probably hard slog ahead.
Smith leaves the first ball, then rehearses a forward defence. Reaches for a wider ball to steer a couple of runs behind point. Pulls the bat inside the line of another after stepping across.
Tea – Australia 210-2 (Warner 111, Smith 21)
There it was in that session – the Warner-Pakistan nexus keeps delivering tons, with one that looked inevitable for most of today. Australia entirely on top. Smith going nicely. Not much happening for Pakistan with he ball, and their catching has been poor. Khawaja nicked off for 41 and Labuschagne was lbw for 16, the only two to fall. Back soon.
50th over: Australia 210-2 (Warner 111, Smith 21) End of the 50th over, for what would have been a decent one-day score in 1987, and that’s the end of the session with a single from Agha Salman.
49th over: Australia 209-2 (Warner 111, Smith 20) Even Shaheen is being worked around for singles now, four of them in the over.
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
