Lyon’s 500th Wicket Seals Australia’s Victory

AFP/APP

Perth: Nathan Lyon clinched his 500th Test wicket as Australia routed a disoriented Pakistan for a mere 89, securing a resounding 360-run victory in the opening Test at Perth on Sunday.

Pakistan’s ambitious quest to secure their first Test win in Australia since 1995 was dismantled by Lyon’s spin mastery and the home team’s formidable pace attack, concluding the match within just four days.

Chasing 450 for victory, the visitors succumbed meekly, with Lyon taking 2-14. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood both grabbed three wickets each.

“Great start to the summer; everything fell into place. We’ve played a lot of cricket, so the build-up was very chilled and relaxed,” said Australia captain Pat Cummins. “No hiccups this week; it’s all gone to plan.

“500 Test wickets around the world is huge,” he added of Lyon. “I couldn’t be happier for him.”After being left stranded on 499 after Pakistan’s first innings, Lyon finally reached the milestone when he trapped Faheem Ashraf, but there was an agonising wait as it went to review.

He then bowled Aamer Jamal in the same over, joining an elite club of just seven others, including fellow spinner Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka and Australia’s Shane Warne.

“It was a great feeling to take 500 wickets,” said Lyon. “I have not taken anything for granted, especially playing for Australia, and I appreciate every moment of my career.”

Australia declared on day four at 233-5 after Pakistan were dismissed for 271 in their first innings, in reply to the hosts’ 487.

Cummins made the call after opener Usman Khawaja was out for a gutsy 90 on a deteriorating pitch after a 126-run partnership with Mitchell Marsh.

Marsh remained unbeaten on 63 after Pakistan removed Steve Smith and Travis Head early in the day to give themselves hope.

Facing a daunting chase, they got off to a horror start with Abdullah Shafique out for two in the first over, nicking an unplayable Starc ball to Alex Carey behind the stumps.

Captain Shan Masood, in his first Test in charge, did not last much longer, edging Carey off Hazlewood to leave his team in dire straits at 17-2.

Starc also accounted for Imam-ul-Haq before Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel put up some resistance. But that crumbled when Azam got an edge over Cummins on 14, with Carey again collecting.

When they returned from tea, Sarfaraz Ahmed lasted just six balls before he was caught at gully off Starc, and Agha Salman was run out.

Lyon then worked his magic before Hazlewood cleaned up. “We could have batted a bit quicker, missed on 60-70 runs,” said Masood. “Bowling-wise, I thought we did a lot of good things. Not as disciplined as we wanted to be; that’s the lesson from the Australian attack.”

Australia had resumed at 84-2, with Khawaja on 34 and Smith on 43, but it was hard going at the start, with cracks appearing on the pitch. Impressive debutant Khurram Shahzad got a breakthrough in the fourth over of the day, trapping Smith LBW for 45.

Enter the aggressive Travis Head, who stroked a boundary off the second ball. But he lived dangerously, and after a misjudged drive-off, Aamer Jamal went straight to Haq at cover, out for 14.

Both Marsh and Khawaja survived reviews in the same eventful Jamal over as Pakistan ratcheted up the pressure. Marsh hit two sixes to keep the scoreboard moving, before a huge escape on 23 when Masood dropped a sitter at mid-off.

Khawaja kept grinding away at the other end to make a 25th Test half-century off 151 balls.Marsh cracked a thunderous drive to bring up his second 50 of the match as both men attacked the bowling after lunch.

Khawaja raced to 90 with some audacious boundaries before his luck ran out going for another big shot, caught by Azam off Shaheen Shah Afridi, which brought about the declaration. They now head to Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test.

Post Views: 102