Australia dismissed for 429, Pakistan lose early wicket
BRISBANE - Pakistan's bowlers battled hard to dismiss Australia for 429 in their first innings but the touring side lost an early wicket in response to be 20 for one at dinner on day two of the first day-night test in Brisbane on Friday.
Australia seamer Mitchell Starc struck in the fifth over of Pakistan's innings to remove Azhar Ali for five, the opener edging a lead-footed drive to the slips where Usman Khawaja dived forward and to his left to take a fine, low catch.
Babar Azam was on nine and opener Sami Aslam on three, the pair surviving a watchful half-hour to the break, but sterner tests await them in the evening session under lights when the pink ball is at its most lively.
Australia middle order batsman Peter Handscomb celebrated his maiden century in his second test, anchoring the home side's innings after captain Steve Smith went down swinging for 130 in the first session.
The 25-year-old Handscomb shared in a 172-run partnership with Smith and his composed 105 from 324 balls was all the more impressive coming against some fiery spells from Pakistan's seamers.
After hammering leg-spinner Yasir Shah over the long-on boundary for six to move to 97, Handscomb completed his ton in style, smashing a cover drive off seamer Mohammad Amir for four.
He was bowled after tea by paceman Wahab Riaz, chopping onto his stumps, but Pakistan were further frustrated by a feisty 10th wicket stand of 49 runs between Nathan Lyon and Jackson Bird before Yasir had Lyon caught for 29.
Wahab and Amir finished with four wickets apiece, dragging their team back into the game after an opening day of toil saw Australia pile on 288-3.
The tourists seemed set for another bleak afternoon when Smith was reprieved a third time when on 129, dropped by Amir at long-off after attempting to slog Yasir over the rope on his first ball.
Smith had been dropped behind the wicket for 53 on day one and survived another caught behind chance on 97 when Pakistan failed to hear a nick picked up by the 'Snicko' technology.
The Australian skipper squandered his third life by slashing at a fuller delivery from Wahab to be caught behind after adding only one more run.
Yasir was initially denied a second wicket when Azhar Ali dropped new batsman Nic Maddinson when he was yet to score, spilling a sharp chance at short leg.
But Wahab had Maddinson caught by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed for one when the rookie jabbed half-heartedly at a ball better left alone.
Amir, who hurt his knee in a fielding mishap on day one, completed a fine comeback by having Matthew Wade (7), Mitchell Starc (10) and Josh Hazlewood (eight) all caught in the slips.
SCOREBOARD
Australia 1st innings (Overnight: 288-3) M. Renshaw c S. Ahmed b Riaz 71 D. Warner lbw b Amir 32 U. Khawaja c Misbah-ul-Haq b Shah 4 S. Smith c S. Ahmed b Riaz 130 P. Handscomb b Riaz 105 N. Maddinson c S. Ahmed b Riaz 1 M. Wade c Az. Ali b Amir 7 M. Starc c Shafiq b Amir 10 J. Hazlewood c Az. Ali b Amir 8 N. Lyon c Shafiq b Shah 29 J. Bird not out 19 Extras (lb-5 nb-7 w-1) 13 Total (all out, 130.1 overs) 429 Fall of wickets: 1-70 D. Warner,2-75 U. Khawaja,3-151 M. Renshaw,4-323 S. Smith,5-334 N. Maddinson,6-342 M. Wade,7-354 M. Starc,8-380 J. Hazlewood,9-380 P. Handscomb,10-429 N. Lyon Bowling M. Amir 31 - 7 - 97 - 4(nb-1) R. Ali 22 - 5 - 74 - 0 Y. Shah 43.1 - 6 - 129 - 2 W. Riaz 26 - 4 - 89 - 4(nb-6 w-1) Az. Ali 8 - 0 - 35 - 0 Pakistan 1st innings S. Aslam not out 3 Az. Ali c Khawaja b Starc 5 B. Azam not out 9 Extras (lb-2 w-1) 3 Total (for 1 wickets, 10 overs) 20 Fall of wickets: 1-6 Az. Ali To bat: Y. Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, A. Shafiq, S. Ahmed, Y. Shah, W. Riaz, M. Amir, R. Ali Bowling M. Starc 4 - 2 - 6 - 1(w-1) J. Hazlewood 4 - 0 - 8 - 0 J. Bird 1 - 0 - 3 - 0 N. Lyon 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 Referees Umpire: Ian Gould Umpire: Richard Illingworth TV umpire: Sundaram Ravi Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle -Reuters
