Australia did not lose a wicket in the second session on another flat surface
Tea Australia 145 for 2 (Khawaja 69*, Smith 68*) vs Pakistan
In-form Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith batted through a sedate second session, as Australia continued their fightback in the series deciding third Test after a spectacular early onslaught on day one from Pakistan quick Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Having won a crucial toss and electing to bat, Australia recovered from a nervy 8 for 2 to reach tea at 145 for 2 with Khawaja on 69 not out and Smith unbeaten on 58. They rescued Australia with a 137-run partnership since coming together in the third over after Afridi removed David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne in the space of three balls.
The wicket has flattened since although Pakistan’s quicks conjured reverse swing and kept Australia on a tight leash with accurate bowling in an attritional session reminiscent of many stalemates during the drawn Tests in Rawalpindi and Karachi.
Having battled through two sessions, Khawaja finds himself in a familiar position having hit three tons in six previous innings since being recalled into the team in January. A determined Smith only scored 30 runs in the session but continues to showcase his penchant for adversity, as he notched his third straight half-century for the series.
A disciplined Smith, who has scored only one Test ton in his last 28 innings, is just eight runs away from being the fastest batter to reach 8000 Test runs. The 32-year-old started exquisitely before going into his shell in a contrast to Khawaja, who was initially uncharacteristically sluggish before hitting his straps and being the first to notch a half-century with a cut shot to the boundary off Sajid Khan.
In an intriguing battle after lunch, Afridi bowled around the wicket to Smith and unleashed piercing yorkers but to no avail. Smith thwarted Afridi’s best efforts underlined by a raucous appeal for lbw which replays showed hit flush on the bat.
Afridi hid the ball to suggest reverse swing was about to be evident and he soon had the ball moving around but a breakthrough was not forthcoming against these set batters.
Quick Hasan Ali had struggled since his return after missing the first Test due to injury, but started to conjure in-swing forcing a focused Smith to shuffle well across his stumps in defence. With the quicks unable to break the stand, Sajid bowled a long spell in the second session but was unable to produce noticeable turn.
Pakistan have been left to rue dropping Smith and Khawaja on consecutive deliveries before lunch after left-arm spinner Nauman Ali came into the attack. Captain Babar Azam missed a chance at slip to dismiss Khawaja then a rash Smith advanced but smashed it straight back to Nauman, who spilt the return catch as the batter immediately admonished himself.
Those opportunities capped early dominance for Pakistan after left-arm quick Afridi lit a fuse under the Test with a superb opening five-over burst to leave the sparse crowd in the terraces jubilant.
After such barren stretches in this series, a red hot Afridi struck in the third over when he trapped Warner lbw for 7 with a pearler of a delivery that cut back then two balls later he lured Labuschagne into a loose drive to be caught behind.
After having words with the incoming batter, Afridi capped a scintillating over with a huge lbw shout first delivery to Smith but it pitched outside the line. Even though Smith survived, Australia were left stunned after Labuschagne, the No.1 ranked batter in the world, fell for his second duck in three innings, and Warner’s relatively lean series continued and he has now gone 39 international innings without a century.
Pakistan shook up their attack by recalling quick Naseem Shah, who was fiery in the first Test, at the expense of allrounder Faheem Ashraf as they resisted including uncapped legspinner Zahid Mahmood.
Naseem has bowled accurately to keep Australia at bay, but Pakistan’s bowlers are bracing themselves for another long toil in the field.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth