Sports News | Khawaja Closes in on Century, Australia Reaches 172-2
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. Opening batter Usman Khawaja set his sights on a century on another slow, grassless wicket as Australia cruised to 172-2 at tea in the second test against Pakistan on Saturday.
Karachi, Mar 12 (AP) Opening batter Usman Khawaja set his sights on a century on another slow, grassless wicket as Australia cruised to 172-2 at tea in the second test against Pakistan on Saturday.
Left-handed Khawaja, who narrowly missed out on the hundred in the drawn first test in the country of his birth, was unbeaten on 86.
Steve Smith was not out on 40 and both batsmen denied Pakistan a wicket in the middle session on the first day.
Pakistan had got two quick wickets before lunch but Khawaja and Smith toyed with the bowlers on a low-bounce wicket after the break.
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Pakistan's three fast bowlers did well to bring down the scoring rate by restricting Khawaja and Smith to only 15 runs in the last 12 overs before tea.
Khawaja was especially strong off his pads on the leg side against fast bowlers and even swept the two spinners with comfort as the wicket offered no assistance to the bowlers in the first two sessions.
Khawaja has hit 11 boundaries and a six while facing 159 balls and Smith, who made a half-century in the first test, was also at ease after playing out 110 deliveries and hitting four fours.
Khawaja and David Warner (36) provided Australia a brisk start of 82 runs after skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat. Pakistan hit back with two wickets, but Australia still managed to reach 100-2 in the first session.
Pakistan came back in the last hour before lunch when Faheem Ashraf (1-24) found the outside edge of Warner's bat off a delivery that moved a fraction away from the left-hander.
Marnus Labuschagne, who faced nine balls, was run out without scoring when he couldn't beat the direct throw from Sajid Khan at mid-off and fell short of his crease at the non-striker's end.
Khawaja, who was dismissed for 97 in the first test, and Warner had earlier dominated the first hour by scoring a rapid 63 off 14 overs.
Fast bowler Hasan Ali, one of the two changes Pakistan had made from the first test along with Ashraf, and Shaheen Afridi couldn't find any movement off a flat, grassless surface.
Both batsmen weren't troubled by fast bowlers and also took early charge against spinners by hitting straight sixes off off-spinner Sajid Khan before Pakistan chipped in with the two quick wickets.
Earlier, leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson was awarded a test debut as the 28-year-old Queenslander replaced fast bowler Josh Hazlewood in the only change Australia made from the first test which ended in a draw on a docile wicket at Rawalpindi.
Unlike Pindi Cricket Stadium pitch in Rawalpindi which was rated as “below average” by the ICC, the wicket at the National Stadium was expected to break up as the match progresses and help the spinners.
Pakistan also made two changes but retained both its specialist spinners Sajid and left-arm spinner Nauman Ali, who took a career-best 6-107 in the first test but not before Australia had made a solid reply by racking up 449.
Hasan and Ashraf both returned after missing out the first test due to injuries. They replaced fast bowler Naseem Shah and all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed.
It's Australia's first tour of Pakistan in 24 years. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)