RAWALPINDI: After Pakistan bowled out Australia in just over three overs at the start of the final day, their openers Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique went out to bat and stayed there till the close; helping themselves to centuries.

Having failed to reach triple figures in his first 11 Tests, Imam now has two hundreds in one after scoring 111 not out on Tuesday to follow his 157 in the first innings on an exceedingly batting-friendly pitch at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. Abdullah, meanwhile, cracked his maiden Test ton in his third match after he finished with an unbeaten 136 with both teams mutually agreeing to call of the play an hour early.

Australia’s first Test on Pakistani soil since 1998 seemed headed for a draw when play began on the fifth day. That’s how it ended with Pakistan making 252-0 in their second innings for a lead of 269, having amassed 476-4 declared in their first innings before bowling out Pat Cummins’ men for 459.

“I think the players always want a fair battle between bat and ball, and that’s when I think Test cricket is at its best and most rewarding,” Cummins said after the game when asked about the pitch. “It’s for fans and you guys (media) to kind of watch it from the outside and kind of judge the spectacle.”

With the fate of the game pretty much decided when Pakistan’s second innings began, Cummins gave almost everyone in his team — apart from wicket-keeper Alex Carey and opener David Warner — a chance to swing their arm. Imam and Abdullah made hay. To the amusement of the crowd, and probably to keep himself from getting bored, Warner did a few dance moves while fielding.

But the Test did give the Aussies — arriving for the tour fresh from a 4-0 drubbing of England in the Ashes — some food for thought. Their much-vaunted three-pronged pace attack of Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood combined for just one wicket. Overall, Australia’s bowlers only picked up three wickets during the Test.

On Tuesday, Imam and Abdullah’s unbeaten partnership was Pakistan’s highest against Australia for the first wicket, surpassing 249 set by Khalid Ibadullah and Abdul Kadir in Karachi in 1964. The duo had shared 105 runs in the first innings, meaning the Pindi Test was the first in 51 years where Australia conceded 100-plus opening stands in both innings. That feat was last achieved by England’s Geoffrey Boycott and John Edrich in Adelaide in 1971.

Cummins denied his bowlers were feeling deflated but added that Australia will go back to the drawing board to review their plans for the second Test which begins in Karachi from Saturday.

“When we came over here, we knew we’re going to experience foreign conditions,” Cummins told a post-match news conference. “Our pacers and off-spinner Nathan Lyon are all quite experienced. They’ve played a lot of cricket on really good wickets, flat wickets, bouncing wickets, spinning wickets.

“We’ll spend the next couple of days reviewing it, having a look at different plans ahead of Karachi. Whoever’s called on for the next Test will be ready to go,” added Cummins, hinting that they may add another spinner in the squad for the second Test.

His counterpart Babar Azam was happy with the way his side performed despite starting the Test without frontline pacer Hasan Ali and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf due to injury and fast bowler Haris Rauf to a positive Covid-19 test. Despite those losses, Pakistan managed to bowl out the tourists with left-arm spinner Nauman Ali claiming 6-107 for his best Test figures.

“There were some positives to take for us.” Babar said at the post-match presentation. “The way our batters played with Imam grabbing the opportunity with both hands on his return and how Nauman bowled in difficult conditions. We have some of our fast bowlers available for the second Test so we should be stronger in that department.”

Nauman had set himself a target of completing a five-wicket haul as well as helping Pakistan bowl out Australia quickly on the final day. He achieved both his goals as Australia could add just 10 runs to their overnight score of 449-7.

The 35-year-old removed Cummins in the second over of the day for his fifth wicket with the Australian skipper driving him straight to Imam at cover.

Pakistan’s pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi then had Starc, the other overnight batter, lbw with a stunning yorker before Nauman wrapped up the Australian innings when he hit Lyon on his back leg for another lbw.

It was more batting practice than a match for Imam and Abdullah with Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood combining to send down just 16 of the 77 overs in Pakistan’s second innings.

Left-hander Imam, who was named player-of-the-match, hit seven boundaries and two sixes in his innings.

“It’s the most satisfying feeling to score a hundred in each innings against Australia which has a good bowling attack,” said Imam, who returned to the Pakistan line-up for the first time since December 2019. “When you score against the top teams you go one step ahead in your career. I was just trying to correct my basics and wait for the loose balls.”

Abdullah hit 15 boundaries and a six in his knock. “This century will give me confidence and step up my career,” he told a news conference.

The duo had the Australian bowlers toiling all day with Abdullah first to reach his century when he tucked away seamer Cameron Green to fine leg for a single.

Imam followed him to the mark, getting two off Travis Head before Babar and Cummins shook hands to call it a draw.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st innings) 476-4 dec (Azhar Ali 185, Imam-ul-Haq 157)

AUSTRALIA (1st innings, overnight 449-7):

U. Khawaja c Imam b Nauman 97

D. Warner b Sajid 68

M. Labuschagne c Abdullah b Shaheen 90

S. Smith c Rizwan b Nauman 78

T. Head c Rizwan b Nauman 8

C. Green c Iftikhar b Nauman 48

A. Carey b Naseem 19

M. Starc lbw b Shaheen 13

P. Cummins c Imam b Nauman 8

N. Lyon lbw b Nauman 3

J. Hazlewood not out 0

EXTRAS (B-6, LB-13, NB-8) 27

TOTAL (all out, 140.1 overs) 459

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-156 (Warner), 2-203 (Khawaja), 3-311 (Labuschagne), 4-326 (Head), 5-407 (Green), 6-422 (Smith), 7-444 (Carey), 8-455 (Cummins), 9-459 (Starc), 10-459 (Lyon).

BOWLING: Sajid 45-9-122-1, Naseem 21-2-89-1 (4nb), Shaheen 30-5-88-2 (3nb), Nauman 38.1-9-107-6 (1nb), Iftikhar 3-0-20-0, Haq 2-0-9-0, Azam 1-0-5-0.

PAKISTAN (2nd innings):

Abdullah Shafique not out 136

Imam-ul-Haq not out 111

EXTRAS: (LB-2, NB-3) 5

TOTAL (for no wicket, 77 overs) 252

BOWLING: Starc 7-1-29-0, Hazlewood 5-0-8-0, Lyon 26-5-75-0, Cummins 4-0-15-0 (1nb), Labuschagne 15-0-56-0, Head 13-1-35-0, Smith 2-0-15-0, Green 4-0-14-0 (2nb), Khawaja 1-0-3-0.

DID NOT BAT: Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah.

RESULT: Match drawn.

TOSS: Pakistan.

UMPIRES: Aleem Dar and Ahsan Raza (Both Pakistan).

TV UMPIRE: Asif Yaqoob (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2022