Watch: Marnus Labuschagne Shattered As Alex Carey Misses Opportunity To Run Out Abdullah Shafique

Australia keeper Alex Carey was on the verge of outfoxing Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique but missed the chance by a whisker in the ongoing first Test. Day 2 of the first game between Australia and Pakistan is taking place at the Optus Stadium in Perth. 

After bundling out Australia for 487 runs, Pakistan had a decent start to the innings as Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique added 74 runs for the opening partnership. The hosts were finding it difficult to take the wicket and it’s fair to say that luck too didn’t favour them as they beat the outside edge of batters many times. 

With nothing going their way, Australia tried to be cheeky and remove Abdullah Shafique with the presence of mind. However, that didn’t happen as they missed the chance by a whisker and it made every Australian player keep their hands on the head. 

During the first ball of the 34th over, Nathan Lyon bowled a flighted delivery on off stump. Abdullah Shafique defended off the inside edge and the ball went towards Marnus Labuschagne, who was stationed close to the batter. The fielder immediately flicked the ball to the keeper Alex Carey. 

Alex Carey waited for Abdullah Shafique to momentarily lift his leg. The keeper brought his hand close to the stump but couldn’t lift off the bails. Abdullah Shafique was also back by then. Notably, Carey was heard continuously saying that he touched the stumps but the bails didn’t come off. Here’s the video: 

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A bit to unpack here as Alex Carey comes ever-so-close to taking the bails off behind the stumps #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/QVQuo4pJJB

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 15, 2023

AUS vs PAK: Abdullah Shafique perishes for 42 

Thankfully, that missed chance didn’t cost Australia much as Nathan Lyon drew the first blood for his team in Abdullah Shafique. The off-spinner bowled a tossed-up delivery that was drifting down the leg. The batter ran down the pitch but couldn’t get on top of the bounce. 

Abdullah Shafique got a big inside edge on the flick and the ball went straight into the hands of David Warner at leg slip. The opening batter scored 42 runs off 121 balls. He also scored 6 boundaries in his innings. He did all the hard work and kept fighting to make sure he provided his team with a good start.