Haris Sohail’s maiden ton puts Pakistan in command against Australia
DUBAI (Reuters) – Pakistan’s Haris Sohail struck his maiden Test century as they ended the second day of the first Test against Australia with a lead of 452 in Dubai on Monday.
Sohail and Asad Shafiq (80) put on 150 for the fifth wicket on a placid track at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium as Australia’s bowlers toiled in the intense heat.
Australia had delayed taking the new ball in their quest to generate some reverse swing and help their spinners but it did not really pay off.
Their quicks bowled tight overs in the first hour to stifle the Pakistan batsmen who had little difficulty in negotiating the spin of Nathan Lyon or Jon Holland.
Paceman Peter Siddle gave Australia an early breakthrough when he bowled nightwatchman Abbas for one with a hint of reverse swing. Siddle was the pick of the Australian bowlers and ended with figures of 3-58 off 29 overs.
Sohail and Shafiq grafted through the afternoon session until Marnus Labuschagne’s occasional leg-break proved Shafiq’s downfall as he edged to keeper Tim Paine.
Babar Azam was run out for four before Sahail’s attempted cut off Nathan Lyon ended up in Paine’s gloves.
Another run out resulted in the wicket of Safraz Ahmed (15) before the tourists wrapped up the tail and left their batsmen with an unenviable 13 overs to face after a long day in the field.
Australia openers Usman Khawaja (17) and Aaron Finch (13) negotiated that session well but there are signs the ball is beginning to turn which will encourage Pakistan’s trio of slow bowlers.
SCOREBOARD
Pakistan 1st innings Imam ul-Haq c Tim Paine b Nathan Lyon 76 Mohammad Hafeez lbw Peter Siddle 126 Azhar Ali c Mitchell Starc b Jon Holland 18 Haris Sohail c Tim Paine b Nathan Lyon 110 Mohammad Abbas b Peter Siddle 1 Asad Shafiq c Tim Paine b Marnus Labuschagne 80 Babar Azam Run Out Marnus Labuschagne 4 Sarfraz Ahmed Run Out Aaron Finch 15 Bilal Asif b Peter Siddle 12 Wahab Riaz Not Out 7 Yasir Shah c Tim Paine b Mitchell Starc 3 Extras 6b 21lb 3nb 0pen 0w 30 Total (164.2 overs) 482 all out Fall of Wickets : 1-205 ul-Haq, 2-222 Hafeez, 3-244 Ali, 4-260 Abbas, 5-410 Shafiq, 6-418 Azam, 7-456 Sohail, 8-470 Ahmed, 9-473 Asif, 10-482 Shah Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex Mitchell Starc 36.2 11 90 1 2.48 2nb Peter Siddle 29 11 58 3 2.00 Nathan Lyon 52 12 114 2 2.19 Jon Holland 29 1 126 1 4.34 Marnus Labuschagne 8 0 29 1 3.62 Mitchell Marsh 10 0 38 0 3.80 1nb ....................................... Australia 1st innings Usman Khawaja Not Out 17 Aaron Finch Not Out 13 Extras 0b 0lb 0nb 0pen 0w 0 Total (13.0 overs) 30-0 Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex Mohammad Abbas 4 1 9 0 2.25 Wahab Riaz 2 0 6 0 3.00 Yasir Shah 4 0 14 0 3.50 Mohammad Hafeez 2 1 1 0 0.50 Bilal Asif 1 1 0 0 0.00 .................................... Umpire Richard Illingworth Umpire Richard Kettleborough Video Sundaram Ravi Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle
