Australia went into the series on a high after a not dominating but convincing display against the West- Indies. Another toss to Ponting and predictably Australia chose to bat. Australia amassed a massive 454 in good time with the top 6 all contributing.

“The nearly man” (Watson) was again nearly there (century) but missed out again due to some lack luster running falling for 93. Ponting set up an aggressive declaration at 454 keeping in mind the abilities of his bowlers. Pakistan in their first innings were bundled out for 258 barely avoiding the follow on.

They struggled to build regular partnerships not just through the match but throughout the series. In Australia’s second innings the inevitable finally happened Watson got to a century all be it after being dropped on 99; nevertheless he did.

He was the only contributor in the Australian innings and Ponting declared at 225 thus setting up Pakistan 422 to win.

Pakistan were off to a decent start and ended day 4 at 170 for 3 with Skipper Mohd Yousuf at the crease along with young gun Umar Akmal. They were just 252 away from what seemed the impossible—and so it turned out to be as Mitchell Johnson ripped the heart out of the Pakistan batting order by getting rid of Umar Akmal and Misbah-ul haq.

Pakistan were reeling at 170 for 5. Nathan Hauritz made quick work of it and mopped up the tail with his first five-for.

Australia didn’t put a foot wrong throughout the test match. They had won convincingly again by a 170 runs.

Australia VS Pakistan: 2nd test Match

New Year Test and Ponting had won the toss and chosen to bat on an overcast morning at the SCG. It was a gamble which didn’t pay off. Mohd Asif had surely woken up the right side of the bed that morning. Australia were bowled out for a 127 in under 45 Overs. Asif had 6.

In their first innings Pakistan managed 333 with their top 5 all making sizeable contributions. Australia displayed a much better effort in their second innings making 381. At the end of day 3 it was Pakistan’s game.

Australia resumed day 4 at 286 for 8 with Siddle and Hussey at the crease. The duo put on 123 for the 9th wicket giving the Aussie bowlers 176 runs to play with. Australia had fought back—but it was still to be Pakistan, rite?

If you give Australia an inch—they will grab it, and so they did! In a small run chase Pakistan were off to a good start at 34 for no loss. Bollinger got the first break through—Farhat had gone. Iqbal and Butt followed suit as Johnson knocked off to in an over—one of ‘em brilliantly taken by Brad Haddin.

Nathan Hauritz took a splendid return catch of Yousuf. Umar Akmal too tried to hoick at one only to be caught by Johnson. That was indeed the final nail in the coffin. Australia had again come out on top.

Truly, it was a combination of Pakistan failure and Australian brilliance.

After the Sydney fiasco Pakistan had rung in a lot of changes. It was “just the usual” in the Pakistan camp with controversies over the selection of keeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed.

The board sent Sarfraz Ahmed and was staunch on their stance of wanting him to play. Meanwhile, Mohd Yousuf was in full favour of Kamran Akmal playing. As it panned out Akmal was left out leaving Ahmed to make his debut.

For the third time in a row Ponting won the toss and chose to bat again. Critics questioned whether Ponting was still good enough to bat at number three.

Only Ponting was confident in his abilities and a day prior to the test spoke out and maintained he is still the best batsman at 3 in his country. Ponting was having one of his worst home seasons.

He was about to change all of that. Australia lost Katich pretty early in the piece. In came Ponting; a wonderful reception from his home crowd.

Mohd Asif bowled a pretty decent bouncer to Ponting early on only to be dropped by Mohd Aamer at fine leg. Ponting had – had his moment. This was it.

His first fifty was one of the worst one could see Ponting at; nudges plays and misses and also getting hit on the head by an Umar Gul bouncer. Ponting survived all of that.

He then looked as flawless as ever. The drives were back, the pull was back—RICKY PONTING WAS BACK! Ponting went on to score a critic answering 209. He added 300+ with Michael Clarke who hit 166. Australia declared at 519.

Pakistan were off to a decent start before Farhat poked at one away from his body. Pakistan then lost 3 quick wickets and were left reeling at 84 for 4. Salman Butt (102) and Shoaib Malik made (58) the only sizeable contributions as Pakistan were bowled out for 301.

Katich made up for his first innings score by registering his 9th test match century. Ponting too resumed from where he left off in the first innings and the duo set Pakistan a target of 438. Pakistan collapsed for 206 with Khurram Manzoor making 77.

Australia had ended another season on a high.
5 wins out of 6 test matches—pretty satisfying. They would be hoping to replicate the same next time they are back on home shores.

What can Pakistan take out of this series?

Pakistan’s new found youngsters—Umar Akmal and Mohd Aamer—Umar Akmal confirmed in Australia –the trailer (in New Zealand) that his movie was to be a box office hit. On the other hand Mohd Aamer seems to be improving with every match and “fall”!
Pakistan have found back the old Mohd Asif. He is back to his swinging best and put on display a wonderful spell of bowling at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Pakistan seem to have found a steady opening partnership at last in Salman Butt and Imran Farhat.
Note: Pakistan could surely do without their careless running.

Salman Butt running out his infuriated skipper Mohammad Yousuf and rising star Umar Akmal at Hobart told pretty much the story of Pakistan on this tour. There has been a complete lack of planning, no urge to win shown (Umar Akmal being the only exception), shoddy fielding and uninspiring captaincy.

Not surprising then that Pakistan were blanked 3-0 by what has been rated by many, including credible voices, as an average Australian side. True, the unpredictable Asian side has produced wonderful performances when things have been extremely stormy off the field in the past (the T20 World Cup triumph being the most recent example).

However, this time the mess was just too much not to affect the side, what with regular skipper Younis Khan skipping the Test series, clearly indicating that all is not well in Pakistan cricket.

Among the many disappointments for Pakistan was the performance of the batters. Butt managed to strike one hundred, but his two run-outs really took away all the sheen from the performance while Khurram Manzoor, who was the only batsman to stand tall at Hobart, was brought in too late into the series.

A lot was expected of experienced men like Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal. However, while Misbah flattered to deceive, Akmal went from being bad to worse, so much so that he had to be dropped for the last Test. Even as he struggled with the bat, it was with his gloves that he was appalling, and that’s just to put it mildly.

He dropped sitters one after the other and the disease spread to the others too as the Pakistani fielders went on dropping catches. It was a pathetic show in the field, one which would have embarrassed even club cricketers.

The bowling performance was slightly better, but not good enough to trouble the classy Aussie batsmen. Left-arm pacer Mohammad Aamer was undoubtedly the best of the faster men among the Pakistanis. However, his inexperience came to the fore at various crucial moments in the game as he let the pressure off the batsmen.

But, he will definitely learn from this experience and come out a better bowler. Umar Gul was also impressive in phases, but it wasn’t enough to make a significant difference. In the spin department, Danish Kaneria picked up a five-wicket haul. That apart though, he did not do much to aid his team’s chances. It has to be said, however, that with better support from the fielders, they could have done much better.

Turning to Australia, this series will be remembered for the making of Nathan Hauritz. In all three Tests, it was he who bowled Australia to victory. Though not in the same league as Shane Warne, he is unquestionably turning out to be a match-winning spinner for the Aussies. And he was amicably supported by the faster men.

Left-arm pacer Doug Bollinger was the best among the Aussie pacers even as Mitchell Johnson kept on getting the much-needed breakthroughs. Even Peter Siddle, who had struggled in the last few Tests, came into his own at Hobart as the series came to a rather predictable conclusion.

Salman Butt

Salman Butt’s third century and his first in four years ensured that Ricky Ponting did not enforce the follow on as Pakistan were bowled out for 301. Australia went in to stumps at 59 for 1 at the end of the third day’s play with a healthy lead of 277.

Pakistan were in dire straits when play resumed but, it were the old foes Butt (102) and Malik (58) who put on a 129 run stand for the 5th wicket which gave the Pakistan total some much needed respect.

Malik batted well in his comeback innings and was decisive with his footwork. Salman butt was exquisite with his shots through the offside and seemed to pierce the field at every attempt he made in doing so. Butt did well to reach a hundred, however his captain wasn’t seen cheering his century.

On display were typical “Asian wrists” as the duo flicked their way to lunch unscathed. The Australian bowlers were disciplined but results never seemed to come until Ponting brought on part timer Simon Katich who accounted for Salman butt and Debutant Sarfraz Ahmed within two overs.

Australia looked all set to enforce the follow on when Pakistan were reeling at 248 for 9. However, the last wicker pair of Umar Gul and Mohd. Asif put on a 50 run stand thus putting enough doubt into Ponting’s mind about the follow on. The Australian pacers were far too short to the tail-enders especially with a new cherry in hand.

After the second day’s play Ponting was quite intent on enforcing the follow on. However, the last wicket partnership took its toll on the Australian seamers as they took a 106 Overs to bowl out Pakistan. In spite of the two major partnerships in the day Pakistan’s batting left a lot to be desired.

Pakistan are missing a number 3; Pakistan are missing YOUNIS KHAN. Ponting then decided to have a bat although the weather forecast over the next couple of days isn’t too good; thus ensuring the match will last five days. Australia lost Shane Watson to early in the mix leaving the score at 1 for 1.

A rare flop for Watson who has had a wonderful season with the bat. Ponting (25*) and Katich (33*) batted through to stumps leaving Australia in a commanding position at the start of day4. The surface looks a good one to bat on as shown by the inability of the Australian bowlers to clean up the tail.

Australia must declare with a sizeable lead between Lunch and tea tomorrow if they want to complete a whitewash. They must consider the unpredictability of the Pakistan batting line-up and the trueness of the surface. The fourth day’s play promises to be an intriguing one.

Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke continued on their merry ways as play resumed on Day 2 of the 3rd test match at the Bellerive Oval. The duo started the day with Australia in an imposing position at 302 for 3.

The Australian dominance continued as they built up a 352 run partnership with Ricky Ponting scoring his fifth double century (209) and Michael Clarke making his highest test score. (166)

Ponting resuming on his overnight score of 137 looked flawless but was let off again when he drove Kaneria and the ball flew through Farhat’s hands at cover.

Just like the first day; Day 2 also belonged to Australia and the duo of Ponting and Clarke were instrumental in ensuring so. The partnership finally ended when Clarke padded up the wrong line to Kaneria which saw his off stump knocked back.

Pakistan prolonged with their negative line of bowling wide outside the line of off stump; eventually getting the better of Ricky Ponting who slashed at one only to spoon it to his opposite number at cover.

Ponting seemed relentless on Pakistan not just with his batting but kept them on the field for a 143 Overs before he finally declared with Australia having piled up a massive 519 for 8.

Pakistan started off steadily with the opening combination of Salman Butt and Imran Farhat putting on a rare 50 partnership before Imran Farhat succumbed to a Peter Siddle delivery.

Farhat (38) drove away from his body only to be caught behind by Brad Haddin. Pakistan’s Make shift no.3 Khurram Manzoor who was brought in for this match failed to score as peter Siddle accounted for him four balls later.

He attempted to play a drive away from his body and was caught by Ponting chest height at second slip. A very lose shot for an opener (slotted in at no.3) especially an out of form one who was playing his first match in 48 days.

The wickets were much needed more so for Siddle than Australia who had an average of 68 before he pouched these two wickets.

The skipper Mohammad Yousuf was third to go when after a push through mid off he ran hard for the third but was refused late by a overly-casual Butt eventually leading to being run-out at the striker’s hand. Unfortunately for Yousuf it was Mitchell Johnson with his rocket arm chasing the ball.

Pakistan’s frustrations continued when Umar Akmal who took off for a single was sent back only to walk back to the pavilion. At the end of the day Pakistan were down and out at 94 for 4 with Salman Butt and Shoaib Malik at the crease.

Pakistan are still 425 runs adrift Australia and need another 225 to avoid follow on. Australia expectedly should come hard on Pakistan tomorrow morning as Ponting would want to ensure the follow on with the forecast being a bit jittery and considering that the Australian team are on a two month break from tests.