Marnus Labuschagne smashed an unbeaten 44 from 120 balls to give Australia the advantage on the topsy-turvy, rain-soaked first day of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. As the skies decided to oscillate between bright brightness and fog, Pakistan’s bowlers’ inconsistency lost them three wickets by stumps, with Australia scoring 187 runs.
Shan Masood’s winning toss allowed Australia to bat first. However, much to the chagrin of the visitors, the sun shone brightly very shortly after the two skippers arrived at the toss. Pakistan still had an early window of opportunity with the new ball spinning around, but they didn’t capitalize on it, as they blew a simple chance as early as the third over. A Shaheen Afridi delivery superbly squared up David Warner, but Abdullah Shafique lost a sitter at slips. After the drinks break, the gloomy clouds parted and the two Australian openers became quite comfortable and began to choose short runs.
They were about to leave for lunch when, against the run of play, Agha Salman had Warner nicking to slip. There was no reprieve this time as Babar Azam finished the capture. When play resumed after lunch, the dismal circumstances had returned, making batting difficult. With Khawaja going early in the second session, Australia was left with two of their finest grafters in the face of adversity – Labuschagne and Steve Smith – to navigate past a time in which the ball swung consistently and brought a densely crowded slip cordon into the game.
Shaheen Afridi kept the two batters on their toes, but they, too, refused to budge and succumbed to the pressures of the passage of play, which saw them score just six runs off 57 balls since Khawaja’s departure. It appeared that Pakistan would be rewarded for their tight bowling, but rain came instead, and the session was called off after only 15.3 overs.
When play resumed for the final session, the Pakistan quicks were back in action, continuing to beat the outside edge of Smith’s bat. Aamer Jamal repeatedly tested the former captain’s resolve with an outside offstump line, enticing him to drive. After moving across, the ball that brought Smith’s wicket was closer to the off-stump as the Australian batter looked to protect it. The keeper didn’t make much of an appeal, but Jamal was persuaded and pushed Masood to take a review. That proved to be a wise option, as replays revealed a small spike on the snickometer, sending Smith home with a 75-ball 26.
Afridi delivered a full toss on Travis Head’s shoulder, followed by a delivery that cut him in two and nearly knocked out the top of off-stump, but the left-hander survived. He batted alongside Labuschagne for the following 8.1 overs until stumps. Pakistan endured a day of squandered opportunities due to inconsistency from their pacers, as they only had three wickets to show for it at the end.
Brief Scores: Australia 187/3 vs Pakistan (Marnus Labuschagne 44*, Usman Khawaja 42, David Warner 38; Agha Salman 1-2).
