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New Delhi: Australia managed to post 187/3 in 66 overs on a rain-hit Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Tuesday. Pakistan’s bowling line-up was much more charged up than the first Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth. The hosts only got 66 overs on the first day due to rain and bad weather.
The Aussie top order did manage to get a good start but neither of David Warner, Usman Khawaja, and Steve could convert into a half-century or big score. Australia got off to a good start but Pakistan’s bowlers didn’t allow any partnership to get dangerous enough for the visitors.
Aussie openers joined a good 90-run opening partnership. Both Warner and Khawaja gave their team a good start but couldn’t make it big enough to throw Pakistan on the back foot.
They lost their way a bit and recovered as the first day ended at 187/3, a score that would satisfy both the teams. Australia, who won the first Test to 360 runs, happy that they are in a position from which they can post a big score on the second day. Marnus Labuschagne was batting on 44 off 120 balls while Travis Head kept him company on 9 off 19 balls.
Labuschagne survived almost three hours at the crease, plus the mid-afternoon rain break that cost around 90 minutes of playing time, to end the day in sight of a hard-earned half-century.
He was on 14 from 47 balls when the downpour hit an hour after lunch. He then withstood some quality seam bowling throughout his stay that did not yield a boundary until the 76th delivery he faced.
Prior to the first rain break, Smith and Labuschagne had laboured for almost 10 overs to chisel out six runs and Smith might have perished soon after the resumption if Babar Azam had been able to pluck a scorching, low-chance diving to his right at extra cover when the prolific batter was on 10.
Smith was granted another reprieve on 19 when adjudged lbw by umpire Michael Gough, but the decision was overturned on the former captain’s immediate review which confirmed his view the delivery from Shaheen was bouncing over the leg stump.
However, the 34-year-old’s fortune finally ended in the following over when Pakistan chose to review an unsuccessful decision for a catch behind the wicket with technology confirming the faintest edge to send Smith on his way for 26.
Pakistan’s four-pronged pace attack had a good start as the final delivery of spearhead Shaheen Afridi’s second over saw Warner anchored to the crease and fending as the full ball shaped perfectly away with the resultant edge flying at knee height to first slip. But Abdullah Shafique could not pouch the catch.
However, Warner and Khawaja survived some difficult conditions and testing deliveries as they struggled to find fluency and
Warner’s struggle was best illustrated by his attempted reprise of the audacious crouching lap shot he unfurled in Perth, but the lower bounce and slower pace of the MCG pitch meant instead of clearing the fine leg fence, it instead dribbled from the toe of his bat through mid-wicket.
His 90-run opening stand with Khawaja proved an invaluable foundation as the weather closed in during the afternoon session, and batting became increasingly problematic as the light dramatically deteriorated.
Khawaja seemed destined for his 10th score of 50 or above in his 23rd innings of 2023 but added just six to his lunch score from 21 balls faced after the break before he also fell in trying to lift the scoring rate.
Amid an impressive post-lunch spell from Hasan, the left-hander attempted a dab to third from a delivery pitched too close and which bounced more than he expected with the catch he presented to second slip resembling the pre-match drills performed by fielding coaches.
Over the next 40 minutes, Hasan and Shaheen pressed repeatedly for a follow-up breakthrough as the ball began to swing beneath the heavy cloud with the MCG floodlights ablaze and severe weather warnings flashing from the ground’s electronic scoreboards.
Despite playing and missing several times and demonstrably showing their frustration at the difficulties they faced in combating the moving ball in the gathering gloom, Smith and Labuschagne remained unbeaten when the rain first arrived with Australia 114/2. They took the score past the 150 score before Smith perished, edging back to Mohd Rizwan off Aamer Jamal. Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head then kept them in the hunt.
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