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Cricket Australia confirms Pakistan tour; PCB announces revised schedule

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Little bro - something else to ponder.....

If Aussies had allowed Pakistan to follow on - they would have had an extra 20 overs to take the 3 wickets. I think Aussies played negative and miscalculated. They should have been braver. Trust me - to bat 2 days and save a test is a massive achievement.

& if Pakistan had not made a such mess out of their innings they might have taken the game, provided their second innings was just the same as it was yesterday and today.

Babur's fall at 196 hurt more than Pakistan capitulation on 148 in the first innings. Anyway, still very proud of him. Good to see him bring the game on.
 
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RESULT

2nd Test, Karachi, Mar 12 - 16 2022

Australia Flag

Australia

556/9d ........................ 97/2d
Pakistan Flag

Pakistan

(target 506) ... 148 ................. 443/7


Match drawn
 
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Very good test match and for the first time ever I saw Babar Azam in some much command especially against leg spin. He will go long way aftr this innings.
 
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Australia
556 for 9 dec (Khawaja 160, Carey 93, Ashraf 2-55) and 97 for 2 dec (Khawaja 44*, Labuschagne 44, Afridi 1-21) ..

Pakistan
148 (Babar 36, Starc 3-29) and 443 for 7 (Babar 196, Rizwan 104*, Lyon 4-112)..

. Match draw...


Babar Azam thwarted Australia with an extraordinary 196 as a gutsy Pakistan survived a dramatic late collapse to remarkably draw the second Test after batting through 171.4 overs to ensure the historic series remained deadlocked.

Against all the odds, Pakistan finished their marathon second innings at 443 for 7 with Mohammad Rizwan unbeaten on 104 and Nauman Ali on 0 off 18 balls. Pakistan fell short of a record run chase by 63 runs, but in getting through they achieved the fifth-most overs batted in the fourth innings.

Having endured a two-year century drought, Babar made up for lost time with his highest Test score and the highest fourth-innings score by a captain in Test history. Just as the match was petering out to a draw, there was a late twist in the final hour when Babar's 425-ball epic ended when he prodded to bat-pad offspinner Nathan Lyon.

Finally getting reward for his unwavering bowling, Lyon then picked up Faheem Ashraf on the next ball as Australia's spirits lifted ahead of the third new ball. He didn't claim a hat-trick but Lyon removed Sajid Khan shortly after and Australia suddenly needed just three wickets with eight overs left.

In a nerve-jangling passage, Australia had seven fielders around the bat for the bowling of Lyon and debutant Mitchell Swepson, who almost had the big wicket of Rizwan with 19 balls left only for Usman Khawaja to drop a low chance at extra cover.

It proved to be Australia's last chance with Rizwan notching his century in the penultimate over and then keeping Swepson at bay in the final over as Pakistan conjured the improbable.

A weary Australia were gutted for the fourth time in just over a year they failed to bowl out their opponent in the fourth innings. But Lyon, who endured criticism during those matches, produced a Herculean effort as did captain Pat Cummins.

Swepson, Australia's first specialist legspinner since Bryce McGain in 2009, was inconsistent but looked threatening at times in an encouraging debut.
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Christian Turner

@CTurnerFCDO

Hum @babarazam258 kae cricket era main jee rahe haen.
Zabardast batting to save the 2nd Test match.
Great sportsmanship all around from Pakistan and Australia.
Looking forward to the Autumn…


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12:16 PM · Mar 16, 2022
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When Babar, Shafique and Rizwan made Karachi dream​

A coalition of the tragics and the curious revel in the shape-shifting narrative arc of Test cricket

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Mohammad Rizwan and Nauman Ali celebrate securing a draw AFP/Getty Images

The fourth day is over, the bails taken off. The players and umpires head in. It's been a one-sided Test in the extreme so far, but the first incipient signs that there might be more to this game have by now cropped up.

Australia have set Pakistan 506 to win; so many it's daft to even frame the contest in those terms. Australia have essentially given themselves two days to win their first-ever Test in Karachi. Given it took just 53 overs to get Pakistan out the first time around, the number of overs remaining, too, feels academic. But by the end of that fourth day, which began with the expectation that there would be no fifth, there are murmurs of life from a moribund Pakistan.

Babar Azam has a hundred, and Abdullah Shafique, Pakistan's new golden boy, is unflappable after surviving an early drop in the slips. The new ball has been seen off, but more importantly, so has the old, reversing ball. Pakistan have 192. They're still 314 runs away. Daft as it might be to frame it this way, in Pakistan, that's precisely what they do.

The most delicious aspect of this anachronistic cricket format now takes over: the overnight anticipation. The fans spill out of the National Stadium, the mood uplifted, the irrational hope reinvigorated. They could draw the game, a barely creditable prospect a few hours ago, but could they even win it? Doing so would upset received wisdom about Test cricket, pitch science and the record books. So of course, Pakistan's supporters go to bed thinking of little else.

The sun rises over the port city once more, as unrelenting as it has been over the past four days. It is this unseasonal heat that made many, including Babar and Pat Cummins, suspect the pitch would long have broken up and the cracks split open. With seven of 23 wickets falling to specialist spinners, it hasn't happened just yet. But as the sun bakes the square, there's time still. Lots of it.

The security checks on arrival at the stadium are thorough but by now a well-oiled machine; they take relatively less time. A man at the entrance asks with a wry smile, "So, what's going to happen today?" It's classic cricket small talk. He knows the answer is worthless, and yet there's comfort in trusting it. You can only shrug; there is no answer.

There's a madness to the belief that Pakistan can go at nearly four runs an over in the fourth innings for 90 overs. Babar and Shafique appear to recognise that, scoring just six runs in the first five overs. And yet, the people working at the game - the press pack, the commentators, the presenters, many of whom have spent decades watching this sport without ever seeing anything like it - have the idea stuck firmly in their minds.

A man at the entrance asks with a wry smile, "So, what's going to happen today?" It's classic cricket small talk. He knows the answer is worthless, and yet there's comfort in trusting it. You can only shrug; there is no answer

It's what brings the fans out to the stadium, a coalition of the tragics and the curious slowly filling up the Hanif Mohammad and Fazal Mahmood Enclosures. The Majid Khan Enclosure at square leg teems with a large group of schoolchildren. It's a brave decision from the school; they probably prioritise character-building.



Mitchell Swepson, Australia's debutant, bowls a couple of full-tosses that Babar puts away. They're not characteristic of Pakistan's shifting intentions, only indicative of the kind of day Swepson will have. They'll be the first two of 14 full-tosses, which will go for 26 runs. They would be put away in the backyard, in school or club cricket, so might as well put them away here.

There's a serenity to that first session, it feels like the eye of the storm. As Babar and Shafique bat on, the subject of the target begins to be broached. It's done tentatively initially, as you wonder whether the person next to you will engage with the idea or lose a little respect for you.

When Shafique falls, shortly before lunch, playing perhaps his first loose shot since day 1 at Rawalpindi, it's like an alarm clock going off, interrupting a pleasant dream. Reality begins to force its way into the spectators' minds, like that party guest whose unwelcome, uninvited presence has killed the mood. Just 62 runs are scored in a 28-over first session. Austerity has properly kicked in.

Pakistan braces for Australia's onslaught. Too many of the scars inflicted on Pakistan cricket's soul have come at Australian hands, and the most recent one hasn't even healed yet. Here Australia are picking away at it once more. Mitchell Starc and Cummins have been tighter than a taxman's purse all innings, and they move in for the kill against Fawad Alam, at sea against such high pace. He doesn't last long, and Babar unites with Mohammad Rizwan once more. They were accused of being a touch defensive in the T20 World Cup semi-final; it is that very trait they will need to exhibit for much of the day now.


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The Australian players applaud as Babar Azam walks back after scoring 196

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Pakistan and Australia head into the third and final Test in Lahore with the series locked and all to play for but the home side will feel they have the momentum after pulling off a brilliant save in Karachi.

Inspired by a majestic 196 by captain Babar Azam and 104 by Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan's 171.4-over stonewall was the longest any team has batted in the fourth innings of a Test, barring England's epic 654 for five in the 'Timeless Test' against South Africa in Durban in 1939.

“(Batting) five sessions in a Test match against a world-class team like Australia is no joke,” said wicketkeeper Rizwan.

“This match is definitely a benchmark for our team to rise above.”

Pakistan have now twice foiled Australia's vaunted attack, though the lifeless Rawalpindi pitch aided the home side's cause in the series-opener.

Australia, meanwhile, spoke of disappointment in falling three wickets short of victory but may quietly feel relieved to leave Karachi with the series tied.

Pakistan were motoring towards what would have been a record 506-run chase for victory until spinner Nathan Lyon dismissed Babar and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf in consecutive balls.

Australia's inability to close out matches from dominant positions on day five has become a problem.

They have now racked up five such failures in their last 19 tests, having let England off the hook in Sydney during the recent Ashes and India twice in the 2-1 series defeat in the previous home summer.

While Australian media questioned whether skipper Pat Cummins might have enforced the follow-on rather than making his team bat again, the tourists' sloppy fielding on day five ultimately paved the way for disappointment.

Mitchell Swepson, Australia's first Test leg spinner in more than a decade, may feel particularly aggrieved after finishing with figures of 0-156 from nearly 54 overs' work in the fourth innings of his debut Test, with four chances going begging off his bowling.

“I thought 'Swep-o' bowled fantastically today,” Cummins said.

“I don't know how he's ended up with those figures.”

The wicket at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium will be something of an unknown as it hosts its first Test since 2009.

Selecting an attack has been a virtual guessing game for Australia on their first tour of Pakistan in 24 years and Lahore may be no different.

Cummins said they will at least have a full complement of bowlers to choose from, with he and his fellow pacemen sparing themselves a bigger workload in Karachi by routing Pakistan for 148 in their first innings.

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Limited over matches between Pakistan and Australia shifted from Pindi to Lahore: minister

Dawn.com | AFP
March 18, 2022


Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. — PID/File


Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. — PID

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Friday said that the limited over matches between Pakistan and Australia have been shifted to Lahore from Rawalpindi.

Speaking to the media in Islamabad, he said, "The decision has been made that all four matches scheduled in Rawalpindi will now take place in Lahore."

The first Test match between the two sides was held in Rawalpindi from March 4 to 8 while the second one took place in Karachi from March 12 to 16. Australia — who are on their first tour to Pakistan in 24 years — are scheduled to play the third Test in Lahore from March 21 to 25.

They were also scheduled to play three One Day Internationals (ODIs) on March 29, 31 and April 2, and a Twenty20 International (T20I) on April 5, all of them in Rawalpindi.

There have been no serious threats directed at the team since their arrival last month, but several political rallies — both for and against the government — are planned in the nearby capital in the coming days and weeks.

Hundreds of thousands of people can descend on the capital during political rallies, choking traffic and causing security problems for officials.

Islamabad, where both teams were due to stay, is just a short drive away from the vastly bigger garrison city of Rawalpindi.

"The matches are being shifted to Lahore because of political activities in the capital," Rashid said.

An official with the Australian team said they had no issues with the change.
"In many ways, it suits both teams as it means one less movement for players and officials," he said.
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