Pak vs Aus: Saud Shakeel’s Historic Inning

News Desk

Islamabad: Saud Shakeel, a Pakistani young cricket star, delivered a historic innings at Perth Stadium, setting a new record during Pakistan’s first Test against Australia.

In his eighth Test match, Saud became the first player in red-ball cricket history to score a minimum of 20 runs in each of his first 15 innings, surpassing Everton Weekes’ record of 20 runs in 14 consecutive innings.

Saud is now just one inning away from matching Colin McDonald’s record for scoring at least 10 runs in his first 16 Test innings. However, Pakistan struggled significantly during their pursuit of 450 runs, losing half their wickets for just 80 runs against Australia’s formidable pace attack led by Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood

Facing a challenging situation, Captain Shan Masood, in his debut Test as leader, fell early, adding to Pakistan’s woes at 17-2 after nicking one to Carey off Hazlewood for a mere two runs.

Starc and Cummins further troubled the batting lineup, dismissing Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam. Azam departed after making 14, caught by Carey off Cummins, leaving Shakeel not out on 10 and Sarfaraz Ahmed on one at the break.

Australia declared their second innings at 233-5 on day four, following Pakistan’s all-out total of 271. Captain Pat Cummins made the declaration after Usman Khawaja’s resilient 90 runs, supported by Mitchell Marsh’s unbeaten 63 and dismissing Steve Smith and Travis Head early in the day, dashing any hopes of a Pakistani comeback.