Australia vs. Pakistan, 1st Test, Day 5: Highlights, Scorecard and Report
Pakistan took a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series with Australia on Sunday thanks to an excellent bowling display on Day 5 in Dubai.
The Aussies were set the gruelling task of chasing 438 to win, but the game plan was always to see the day out and take the draw. However, Pakistan had other ideas, and they bowled Australia out for just 216 to record a 221-run victory—per Sky Sports Cricket:
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On a day of attrition, Zulfiqar Babar stole the show with some brilliant bowling to take five wickets, including the all-important one that saw Peter Siddle dismissed for 15 to close out the Test.
The left arm spinner’s figures of 5-74 were impressive, but Yasir Shah also got in on the action with a 4-50 haul, as we see on the scorecard below:
| Batsmen | Dismissal | Bowler | Runs | Balls |
| Rogers | Bowled | b Khan | 43 | 131 |
| Warner | st Sarfraz Ahmed | b Zulfiqar Babar | 29 | 27 |
| Doolan | lbw | b Zulfiqar Babar | 0 | 5 |
| Clarke | lbw | b Yasir Shah | 3 | 9 |
| Lyon | lbw | b Yasir Shah | 0 | 3 |
| Smith | c Shafiq | b Yasir Shah | 55 | 175 |
| M Marsh | c Azhar Ali | b Zulfiqar Babar | 3 | 8 |
| Haddin | Bowled | b Zulfiqar Babar | 0 | 10 |
| Johnson | st Sarfraz Ahmed | b Yasir Shah | 61 | 127 |
| Siddle | c Azhar Ali | b Zulfiqar Babar | 15 | 48 |
| O'Keefe | NOT OUT | 0 | 6 | |
| Bowlers | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
| Khan | 7.0 | 2 | 22 | 1 |
| Rahat Ali | 13.0 | 4 | 36 | 0 |
| Hafeez | 15.0 | 4 | 29 | 0 |
| Zulfiqar Babar | 31.1 | 7 | 74 | 5 |
| Yasir Shah | 25.0 | 6 | 50 | 4 |
It took Pakistan until just after tea before they completed the job, but it could have been over much sooner were it not for Mitchell Johnson and Steven Smith.
After Brad Haddin’s dismissal at the hands of Babar, Australia sat on 105-7 needing a miracle to get anything out of the Test.
However, their prayers were almost answered as Smith and Johnson chalked up 55 and 61 respectively, but it just wasn’t enough.
Michael Clarke will need to investigate exactly what went wrong during the Test, but it’s clear that facing spin bowlers was the Aussies’ Achilles' heel.
Having three batsmen dismissed for ducks and two getting out for three simply isn’t good enough for a team vying to be the best Test side in the world. Clarke, who was one of those dismissed for three, said the slow wicket caught his team out—per ABC Online:
"I'm really disappointed with my personal performance in this Test match. I'm not looking to blame anybody else or criticise anybody else. I've always loved the challenge of facing spin bowling. I've been out twice to spin bowling in this test match. It's not so much the spin, it's the slowness of the wicket. The spin's a little bit inconsistent and I think that's what's caught us out today. Guys have played for spin and a lot of us have been out to balls that haven't spun as much.
"
You can take nothing away from Pakistan, though, who got their tactics absolutely perfect on the day.
That’s something that Bleacher Report's Freddie Wilde reflected on, as he labelled Pakistan the “most naturally gifted” Test side due to their incredible knack of winning matches without the right preparation:
Should they find a way to get a draw or better in the second Test, they’ll claim their first series win over Australia since 1994, and unless the Aussies improve, it’s a real possibility.
The wicket will be similarly slow in Abu Dhabi on October 30, which means Australia need to both find a way to handle spin and use it as a weapon themselves.
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