Gritty Pakistan deny Australia victory at Karachi

Pak’s Nauman Ali (left) and Mohd Rizwan celebrate the end. Pic/AFP

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam smashed 196 and Mohammad Rizwan 104 not out to deny Australia victory on Wednesday and force a dramatic draw in the second Test in Karachi.

The Pakistan pair put the home team well on course for a draw, but spinner Nathan Lyon turned the match on its head by dismissing Azam and Faheem Ashraf with successive deliveries. Lyon came on to bowl the third of the 15 mandatory remaining overs of the match, and with his fourth delivery had Azam glove a catch to Marnus Labuschagne at forward short-leg.

Next ball Lyon had Ashraf caught at slip to raise hopes of an Australian win. The late-hour drama also saw Usman Khawaja drop Rizwan on 91 off luckless spinner Mitchell Swepson with 18 balls left in the match. The pugnacious Rizwan, in company of tailender Nauman Ali (nought), batted out 46 balls during their 29-run stand for the eighth wicket to keep the three-match series tied at 0-0.

The first Test also ended in a draw in Rawalpindi, while the third and final Test will start in Lahore from Monday. Azam’s score become the best-ever fourth innings by a captain, surpassing Mike Atherton’s 185 for England against South Africa in 1995.

His score is also the highest fourth-innings individual total by a Pakistani, erasing the 171 not out Younis Khan made against Sri Lanka in Pallekele in 2015. The Pakistan skipper added an invaluable 228 runs for the third wicket with Abdullah Shafique (96) and another 115 for the fifth with Rizwan, keeping Australia’s spin-cum-pace attack at bay.

Brief scores

Australia 556-9d & 97-2d drew with Pakistan 148 & 443-7(B Azam 196, M Rizwan 104*; N Lyon 4-112, P Cummins 2-75)

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