AUS vs PAK: Pakistan Openers Saim Ayub And Abdullah Shafique Register Unwanted Record On Opening Day Of Sydney Test
Published - 03 Jan 2024, 01:32 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 10:20 AM
Pakistan are reeling on the opening day of the third and final test match against Australia in Sydney. This Test match marks the final Test for David Warner and has had the best possible start for the hosts.
Pakistan are already nine down on the opening day of the test match after winning the toss and opting to bat first. Mohammad Rizwan (88) and Agha Salman (53) scored fifties as they tried to resurrect the Pakistan innings that were in disarray right from the start.
Pakistan lost both their openers for ducks. Abdullah Shafique was dismissed in the second ball by Mitchell Starc. Debutant Saim Ayub also was dismissed in the third over for a duck. In the process, Pakistan became the first team in Test history to have their openers dismissed for ducks in the very first Test of a new year. For the first time in Test history, a calendar year has started with both openers falling for a duck.
Also Read: PAK vs AUS: Pat Cummins Highlights Pakistan’s Struggles In Test Cricket
Disaster Strucks Pakistan On Opening Day Of Sydney Test
Pakistan’s struggles increased when skipper Shan Masood (35) and Babar Azam (26) were dismissed after getting set in the middle-order. The Australian pace attack was relentless as they kept pegging the Pakistani batters back.
Pat Cummins finished with 5/57. Mitchell Starc picked up a couple of wickets, and Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell March picked one each. Australia played the same XI that played the second Test.
Pakistan on the other hand, decided to bench Shaheen Afridi which was the topic of discussion on the opening day of the third and final Test match. They are on a 16-match losing streak in Test matches on Australian soil and have given signs of losing the third Test match pretty early.
“Looks like a good wicket, the sun’s out today, but that’s fine. It’s rare that we play the same team three games in a row, but everyone´s in a good space after such a short turnaround,” said Australia captain Pat Cummins, who said he would have also batted if he had won the toss.
He also spoke about David Warner playing his last Test match. This will be his 112th Test match for the Australian southpaw. he is just over 300 runs shy of 9000 Test runs something that will be at the back of his mind.
“Best-case scenario is a hundred and maybe a leg-spinner to take the last wicket of the game out of the rough,” Cummins would grinningly tell members of the press on Tuesday at the SCG [Hopefully there is] just a fantastic turnout here, which I’m sure it will be with everyone behind him. If he could score some runs and go off in style with a few fours and sixes, I think that’d be a pretty fitting end. ‘Warner Week’ has started,” he added.
Cummins also spoke about the weather conditions for the Sydney Test. Rain has played spoilsport in the first two Test matches but Cummins was happy with the weather conditions in Sydney.
“The weather looks pretty good this week and that’s not always the case in Sydney. I had a look yesterday and [the pitch] looks good. The groundsman seems happy with where it’s at. It looks like decent coverage of grass, so it should be a good week ahead” said Cummins before the start of play.
Also Read: PAK vs AUS “Real Shocker For Me”- Waqar Younis On Shaheen Afridi Rested For The Third Test In Sydney
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