Australia bagged two wickets in the second session on day three to put Pakistan under pressure at 227 for 3 at Tea. Pat Cummins removed Azhar Ali while Nathan Lyon dismissed Abdullah Shafique to ensure the hosts couldn’t quite breathe easy in the second session.
After working through a wicketless opening session, Lyon gave Australia the much-needed early breakthrough in the session. The opener came forward to defend a loopy delivery and was caught behind and was on his way after a successful review from Australia. The pitch played far more tricks and the ball also kept low to keep both Babar Azam and Ali on their toes.
When the new ball became available, Pakistan were 181 for 2. Australia didn’t hesitate to ask for the new cherry and it was Cummins once again producing a stunner to give his side the edge. The Australia captain held on to a return catch while on his follow-through soon after Ali had crossed the 7000-run mark in Tests. Babar Azam was solid but Fawad Alam was edgy and not comfortable in the middle.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan made a brisk start with Azhar scoring consecutive boundaries against Cameron Green in the second over. Shafique followed it up with a boundary against Cummins in the next over as Pakistan bagged four boundaries in the opening four overs. Australia, in their desperation, also challenged an lbw call against Shafique in the 46th over only to lose their review just after the opener had crossed his fifty.
Azhar brought up his half-century in the 49th over but both Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Swepson found turn to trouble the batters at various stages. There was no real drama in the session despite the Australian bowlers toiling hard with both Lyon and Swepson keeping things in check. Swepson, however, was able to produce a moment of magic in the final over of the session and had Azhar edging to first slip only for Steve Smith to grass the chance.
Brief scores: Australia 391 (Usman Khawaja 91; Naseem Shah 4-58) lead Pakistan 227/3 (Abdullah Shafique 81, Azhar Ali 78) by 164 runs.
