1st Test
Day 1
Australia 288/3 (90.0 ov)
Pakistan
It is hard enough for touring teams at the Gabba without providing instances of charity to the hosts. On a night when floodlights and the pink ball ushered in Brisbane's biggest ever non-Ashes Test crowd, Pakistan allowed the throng of 26,343 to salute a century for Australia's captain Steven Smith with a pair of contrasting reprieves.
The first, in the final over before the tea break, came via an unexpectedly sharp leg break from Azhar Ali and an equally surprising fumble behind the stumps by Sarfraz Ahmed. Several hours later and Mohammad Amir fizzed the second new ball across Smith to coax the thinnest of edges. This time Sarfraz took it crisply - yet it was a nick so fine no appeal was made.
The fact Amir took the second new ball at all felt almost as remarkable as his return to the Pakistan side from an infamous jail sentence. Having bowled tidily early, his right knee had plugged in the Gabba outfield and seemed to have suffered an injury akin to that inflicted on Simon Jones in 2002. Yet Amir found a way to return, in a show of resilience Pakistan must now emulate collectively in order to find a way back into this first innings.
Smith's innings was the centrepiece of Australia's day, equal parts patient and punchy, but it would not have been possible without a pair of tremendous supporting hands from the young batsmen Matt Renshaw and Pete Handscomb. Renshaw's discipline in early stands with David Warner and then Smith blunted the new ball in the hands of Pakistan's pace attack and also compelled Yasir Shah to bowl a high volume of overs early in the match.
While Wahab Riaz was able to find Renshaw's outside edge before he could go on to three figures, Smith and Handscomb then fought their way through to the whole final session with hope for more runs on resumption. Handscomb did not always look comfortable but fought his way through, at the same time showing no desire to depart from the batting methods that have served him well at domestic level.
Renshaw played an exemplary innings, showing his usual sound judgment around the off stump but also showing an ability to hit with power through midwicket and down the ground. In doing so he invited further comparisons with another tall Queensland opening batsman in Matthew Hayden - Australia's selectors will dream of more such performances.
There had been some swing for Amir and Rahat Ali in the early overs, but Renshaw and Warner did very well to cover any movement and also punish any errors in line or length - in Warner's case he started by punching Rahat to the cover fence first ball. Wahab's greater pace was unable to make much of an impression, and Misbah was left to call on Yasir as early as the 11th over of the innings.
Bounce was plentiful even if the Gabba pitch will likely quicken up in pace on day two, but Yasir's early overs were characterised by a somewhat odd tactic - attacking the leg stumps of Renshaw and Warner with a 6-3 leg side field. For the most part the batsmen took advantage of this, the only semblance of a chance coming when Yasir strayed wide of the off stump and Warner edged fractionally short of slip.
However Amir was brought back in the lead-up to the break and was able to pin Warner as he shuffled across the stumps to try to work the ball to the leg side. Gould's finger was raised and Warner did not review; ball-tracking showed the ball would have clipped the outside of the leg stump.
Khawaja got started with one neat leg glance, but he was soon to be on his way when he lifted a Yasir delivery on the pads directly into the midriff of Misbah. Renshaw finished the session with a boundary from Azhar, before finding more gaps when play resumed - leaping out once to flay Yasir over cover.
Smith also played admirably straight, refusing to be tempted into a surfeit of deliveries angled across him by the Pakistani left-armers, and the pair were looking increasingly secure until Wahab found a modicum of away movement to coax an edge from Renshaw's bat.
Coming in at No. 5, Handscomb again demonstrated his idiosyncrasies, staying deep in his crease to the pacemen while also trying to dance down the wicket to Yasir. There were a few nervy moments for him before the break, but Smith's passing of 50 gave the hosts some cause for optimism as the match crept into the floodlit night.
Intriguingly Misbah resumed with twin spin after dinner, and Smith and Handscomb were duly able to get back into rhythm. The genuine concern for Amir left the tourists a bowler short, with Rahat also looking sluggish at various points. The second new ball brought Amir's welcome return and the aforementioned unappealing edge from Smith, and after a protracted period in the 90s the captain was able to drive down the ground for Test hundred No. 16.
Of all the surprises thrown up by the first night's pink ball cricket in Brisbane, a wicketless final session was surely the most startling. No-one will be more grateful for that than the No. 6 Nic Maddinson, who can now look forward to batting in sunlight on day two - whenever Smith and Handscomb exit the stage that is.
Day 2
Australia 429
Pakistan 97/8
Pakistan trail by 332 runs with 2 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Australia and Pakistan on night two in Brisbane resembled nothing so much as Australia and most of the rest of the world during the great recession of 2008. Having planned and saved soundly in the good times on a slower day one pitch, the hosts were able to absorb the shock of tougher batting conditions, helped by a Peter Handscomb stimulus package.
Pakistan had no such safety net, and when the crash came under the Gabba lights against the wobbling pink ball, they went swiftly into free fall. The visiting batsmen jutted their bats out at the bad real estate offered by Australia's canny bowlers like so many reckless traders, and were left observing the ruins of their first innings like former employees of Lehman Brothers.
The main reason for the day's violent swerve from 1 for 43 to 8 for 67 was the quickening of the surface, which clearly did not need a single millimetre more grass than the two the curator Kevin Mitchell Jnr. left on it. One wonders how swiftly the match might have moved with the 6mm preferred by Adelaide's groundsman Damian Hough.
Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Jackson Bird had far too much speed, accuracy and movement for Pakistan's batsmen, cowed as they already had been on slower, seamier pitches in New Zealand. Of the tourists only Sami Aslam gave any indication of permanence, and even that was of the painful, white-knuckle kind as he wore two blows on the helmet before glancing Bird into Matthew Wade's gloves.
Handscomb's chanceless century, in only his second Test, ensured that the quality spells bowled by Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz did not result in a similar level of mayhem. Amir's figures were his best since returning to the Pakistan side, but he was unable to dislodge Handscomb, who showed patience beyond his years and deep trust in his way of batting. Gleefully, he leapt from 91 to 101 with a powerful six off Yasir Shah then a delectable square drive off Amir. Bird and Nathan Lyon bolstered Australia's total with a pesky stand of 49 - runs measured in value through the deepening furrow in Misbah-ul-Haq's brow.
Steven Smith and Handscomb had begun intent on a long occupation, but the captain appeared to decide it was time to go on the attack after the fourth wicket stand went beyond 170 runs. First he tried to deposit Yasir into the Gabba stands only for Amir to drop a swirling chance, then flayed at Wahab to end an equal parts fine and fortunate innings.
Nic Maddinson was not confronted by floodlights and a swinging ball, but the extra pace off the pitch did appear to trouble him against both spin and pace before he was unable to withdraw his bat from Wahab in time - having already been turfed at short leg off Yasir. Wade and Starc both offered up catches to the slips off the persistent Amir before Handscomb was able to reach three figures, doing so with an exultant yell and matching fist pump.
Despite the late flurry from Bird and Lyon, Pakistan's openers did have the advantage of starting in daylight. Starc gained some early swing, but it was a ball angled across with bounce that found the edge of Azhar Ali's bat - expertly snaffled by Usman Khawaja. For a little more than 15 overs, the resolute Sami and a seemingly composed Babar Azam held the Australians at bay, even as the lights took effect.
It was clear they stuck around longer than the hosts preferred, as evidenced by Starc's ever more prominent snarling in Sami's direction. But it was to be Hazlewood who signalled the start of the downturn by tempting Babar with a delivery just wide enough to drive, and just short enough to make it risky. The resultant edge was well held by Smith, turning his body, and next ball Wade had a far simpler task to collect a thinner edge from a fencing Younis Khan.
Though Misbah survived the hat-trick, he seemed mesmerised by the bouncing, seaming ball, and it was no surprise when his searching bat succeeded only in edging low to Matt Renshaw at first slip. By now the Gabba had taken on full Colosseum mode, as near enough to 25,000 spectators willed further edges into the Australian cordon.
They got them too, as Asad Shafiq and Yasir offered further catches to Khawaja, either side of a return catch from Wahab and a forlorn touch down the leg side by Sami. His determination to keep his bat from harm had been the closest any Pakistani came to a workable method in such bouncy conditions.
Late in the piece, Sarfraz Ahmed and Amir managed to hang around until stumps while inching the total towards three figures - the former was reprieved when Wade failed to glove a stumping chance off Lyon. If Pakistan look about as healthy as numerous major economies did in late 2008 there is one troubling divergence from that tale: the Gabba doesn't tend to do bail-outs.
Day 3
Pakistan 142 and 2 for 70 need 420 runs to beat Australia 429 and 5 for 202 dec
There was no mayhem this time, no clatter of wickets in a giddy rush, or frenzied burst of noise from the Gabba's biggest crowd ever outside the Ashes. Instead Australia steadily and surely placed their foot ever more firmly on the throat of Pakistan, claiming a pair of wickets at the start of their chase of 490 to win.
All of Australia's bowlers delivered handy spells, Mitchell Starc accounting for Sami Aslam via another excellent catch from the new first slip Matt Renshaw, before Nathan Lyon coaxed another edge to slip, this time from Babar Azam to Steven Smith.
Lyon's effort over numerous overs to find exactly the right line, length and pace to deceive Babar, like a destroyer sinking depth charges ever closer to a submarine, was instructive. It showed that Australia had earned themselves plenty of time to make life impossible for each of Pakistan's batsmen, even if the visitors showed greater discipline in the second innings.
The initial decline to 8 for 67 on the second evening remained a millstone around the necks of Misbah-ul-Haq's team. Younis Khan and Azhar Ali scrapped their way to the close of the third day, but plenty of deliveries had beat the bat and left Australia confident of their ability to finish the job. Some rain is forecast for day four but not enough to make the home side nervous just yet.
Australia had amassed a lead of 489 after an impish rearguard by Sarfraz Ahmed dissuaded Smith from asking Pakistan to follow on. Smith and Usman Khawaja did most of the run-scoring for the hosts, but there was another low score for Nic Maddinson as the declaration was delayed until the target was well beyond the world record chase.
David Warner started aggressively but he was undone when trying to pull a delivery from Mohammad Amir that was not short enough for the stroke, succeeding only in shovelling the ball to mid-on. Renshaw was turned around by a late outswinger from Rahat Ali, edging to the slips.
Smith and Khawaja, however, combined in an attractive stand. They built the lead with a mixture of the classical and the inventive, though neither went on to a century. Smith failed to clear mid-on to hand Yasir Shah a wicket, and Khawaja was well caught by Misbah-ul-Haq in a similar position off Rahat. Peter Handscomb maintained his sparkling start to Test cricket with another useful contribution, but Maddinson managed only one boundary before he hooked to fine leg. Australia eventually declared during the dinner break, on 5 for 202.
The third day had begun with Sarfraz and Amir facing an enormous task to prolong Pakistan's first innings. With a combination of quick singles and the occasional boundary they were able to take their ninth-wicket stand beyond 50 while compelling Smith to call upon Nathan Lyon and Jackson Bird after trying Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
It was Bird who eventually broke through, finding the thinnest of inside edges on Amir's bat - revealed by HotSpot and Realtime Snicko after the not-out decision was reviewed. Amir was visibly annoyed, perhaps because the ball also appeared to brush his elbow on its way through to Matthew Wade.
Sarfraz went on to 59 in the company of Rahat, cutting Australia's lead slightly but more pointedly ensuring Smith did not risk enforcing the follow-on. His array of shots included a slog sweep off Bird, leading to one dropped catch by Maddinson at deep-backward square leg, before the innings concluded when Warner ran out Rahat by the width of a shadow over the crease.
Day 4
Australia 429 & 202/5d
Pakistan 142 & 382/8
Pakistan require another 108 runs with 2 wickets remaining
During the rain delay that ensured day four would stretch well into the Brisbane night, highlights of the 1999 Hobart Test were aired. Play resumed before Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer were shown completing their fabled chase, but by stumps a magnificent Asad Shafiq innings was allowing Pakistan to dream of an even greater feat.
To achieve 490 to win would comfortably be the biggest chase of all time, more remarkable still for the fact that Pakistan were shot out for 142 in the first innings. Yet Shafiq, Mohammad Amir and then Wahab Riaz played with such confidence on a friendly Gabba pitch that Australia's captain Steven Smith will sleep fitfully tonight.
It was Smith who dropped Shafiq late in the evening, before the umpires allowed Australia to take the extra half hour to try to claim the result on the fourth night. But tired bowlers and a wearing ball ensured the eight overs were largely fruitful for Pakistan, until Jackson Bird found an edge from Wahab in the final over of the day. While Smith clung on this time, his gambit had cost 51 runs.
The hosts were visibly frustrated by Pakistan's rearguard, which began with Azhar Ali and Younis Khan and then was sustained after dinner by the polished Shafiq, Amir, who played with rare skill for the second time in the match, and the jittery but ultimately powerful Wahab. Yasir Shah, who played out the final over, was no slouch either.
Mitchell Starc had words with Amir at various points, and there were plenty of grimaces to be seen in the field as Australia were made to bowl throughout the day and night, lengthened by more than an hour by a rain delay either side of the tea break. Starc, Bird and Nathan Lyon all bowled strong spells at various times, while Josh Hazlewood was particularly stingy until Amir and Shafiq capitalised on some looser stuff in the final session.
Azhar and Younis, the overnight Pakistan batsmen, had shown good sense and plenty of determination to take their partnership to 91 without giving a chance before tea. Starc and Hazlewood could not initially find the right length to trouble the batsmen as they had done earlier in the match, while Bird and Lyon were also unable to break through.
The vital wicket arrived in the second session, when Starc fired a bouncer towards Azhar's armpit, forcing the batsman into a reflexive glance that took enough of the shoulder of the bat for Matthew Wade to complete the catch. Misbah-ul-Haq was seldom comfortable during his stay, and his feet were in a muddle when he touched a ball from Bird to the keeper.
Younis had previously made a hundred at the Gabba, for South Australia in a Sheffield Shield match in 2008. His duel with Lyon was a fascinating one, with the batsman trying to assert himself but having to deal with more pace and bounce than had been the case when Lyon struggled against Pakistan in the UAE in 2014.
After numerous deliveries had taken the inside half of Younis' bat, he elected to try a reverse sweep, but was only able to flip it up and into Smith's hands at slip via bat and body.
Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed showed attacking intent in the lead-up to the dinner interval, and on resumption Sarfraz was reprieved when Smith spilled an edge from a Hazlewood away swinger. Smith's annoyance at the miss was clear, but he only had to wait another five runs from Sarfraz before Starc burst through the wicketkeeper's forward stroke with a hint of inswing.
Australia celebrated that wicket as though it was the harbinger of a fourth-night finish, but instead Amir and Shafiq combined for a stand of 92 that not only made Smith's men wait but also whittled down the target at a dramatic rate. Amir's fluency was such that it seemed strange he did not possess a Test half-century, and it was the search for the final two runs to get one that appeared to affect his concentration - an edge behind off Bird soon followed.
Wahab looked far less comfortable to begin with, but he was able to endure as Shafiq forged on, and together they tore into the Australian bowlers when Smith took the extra half hour. In doing so, Shafiq demonstrated a soundness of technique and positivity of mindset that Pakistan can take plenty from moving into the Boxing Day Test, even if his effort turned out to be in a losing cause.
Day 5
Australia 429 & 202/5d
Pakistan 142 & 450
Australia won by 39 runs
Pakistan's bid for a world-record chase fell a mere 40 runs short, allowing Australia to exhale after coming close to coughing up a match they had dominated over the first four days and nights at the Gabba.
Asad Shafiq's sublime century and sturdy support from Yasir Shah took Steven Smith's men close to their wit's end, but a Mitchell Starc short ball did for Shafiq when the visitors needed only 41 runs to steal the most fanciful of victories. Three balls later, Smith struck the final blow, running out Yasir from slip after the No. 10 wandered out of his crease, ending a match that had seemed destined for a much wider margin.
Starc's speed and direction were vital throughout, and it remains to be seen whether the huge number of overs bowled by him and Josh Hazlewood will have an impact on their physical preparation for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. The Australians had a hangdog air in the field for much of the final day, and their relief at the final wickets was palpable.
Pakistan, by contrast, will now feel they are very much in the series, with matches on friendlier surfaces in Melbourne and Sydney to come. The Gabba has always been a major competitive advantage for Australia, and the close result will afford plenty of confidence to the tourists even if they are now 1-0 down with two to play.
When play began half an hour early, both sides seemed a little unsure of their ground. Shafiq did not take singles he would have gone for the night before, while Smith's fields were notably defensive, often sparing only one slip in a match where catches in the cordon have been comfortably the main mode of dismissal.
After the first few overs passed without incident, Shafiq and Yasir grew in confidence, doubtless aided by a vocal contingent of Pakistan supporters who made their presence felt in an otherwise deserted stadium. Shafiq was able to find numerous off-side gaps, while Yasir married impressive defence with the occasional flourish, including an upper cut over the slips and later a handsome flick over midwicket off Jackson Bird.
At length Smith brought Nathan Lyon into the attack, but the spinner was unable to find enough consistency to trouble either batsman - even if Matthew Wade appealed for a stumping from a straighter ball that Yasir played inside. Lyon soon found himself relieved of duty.
As the runs ticked down the tenseness on Australian faces was acute. Several near misses took place: Yasir square drove in the air a millimetre out of the reach of a diving Lyon; he was given out lbw to Hazlewood padding up, but on review was reprieved by the bounce. Next Yasir appeared to get the slightest of touches when glancing Starc, but Wade could not hang on and any appeal was strangled.
Only 41 runs were required when Starc finally found the delivery to break the stand, a throat ball that Shafiq could only throw his bat at, resulting in a skier that David Warner was able to cling onto at gully. Rahat Ali took a single first ball, but Yasir's composure was clearly at an end when he swung wildly at the next one.
Next ball Yasir dug out a Starc yorker but ventured out of his crease long enough for Smith to throw the stumps down from slips and begin relieved celebrations for a team that went from dominators to nervous wrecks over the course of Shafiq's wondrous innings.
2nd Test (Starts Christmas Day UK time)
Day 1
Pakistan 142/4 (50.5 ov)
Australia
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat
A fine delivery from Jackson Bird and a better catch by Nic Maddinson at short leg put Australia in control of Pakistan's first innings before rain arrived to bring a premature end to day one of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
While Azhar Ali made it to the early closure on a stubborn, unbeaten 66, Bird's dismissals of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul Haq kept the hosts hopeful of preventing Pakistan from posting a major first-innings tally on a slow but not unfriendly batting pitch.
Pakistan had lost Babar Azam on the stroke of lunch to offset a morning of steady accumulation after Misbah won an important toss. Nathan Lyon's capture of the wicket of Sami Aslam with his third ball caused a tumult of celebration for a festive-season crowd of more than 60,000 spectators, but for the most part the Pakistan worked assiduously at building a platform on a surface that offered some seam movement and bounce, albeit at a lesser pace than Brisbane. Babar made it to the final ball of the session before edging Josh Hazlewood into the slips.
Until then Azhar and Babar absorbed plenty of pressure from the Australian pacemen, though Mitchell Starc and Hazlewood both appeared to be slightly down on their optimum pace after the physical toll taken on them by the conclusion to the Gabba Test, in which Pakistan came so close to reeling in a target of 490 for victory.
Among the chief nuisances to players on both sides was an unusually large swarm of flies in the arena, requiring the use of plenty of repellant and also compelling Azhar to pull away at the last moment from a Hazlewood delivery.
While there was some movement on offer for the bowlers, none of the home seamers were able to be consistent enough to find the edges that Smith and his slips cordon were seeking. Ultimately it was Lyon who broke the opening stand shortly before morning drinks, finding spin and bounce with his third ball to dismiss Aslam.
Not another chance was had until the final over of the session, when Hazlewood got his line and length right and drew an edge from Babar, which Smith held in the ends of his fingers to take the Australians to lunch in a buoyant mood.
They were kept at bay for the first hour after the break as Younis and Azhar worked stubbornly to build the innings with deft deflections and hard running between the wickets. Younis was looking at home in Azhar's company, and it took an excellent offcutter from Bird to find a gap between bat and pad and flick off stump.
Misbah's arrival brought a lift in Australia's tempo to pressure the new batsman, and Bird found the inside edge squeezed off pad towards Maddinson at short leg. Timing his lunge perfectly, Maddinson claimed the chance millimetres above the turf and celebrated the wicket after confirmation arrived via video replays.
Azhar and Asad Shafiq then held firm until the forecast rain arrived - a bleak weather radar suggested that was likely to be the last play of the day, and so it was to prove.
Day 2
Pakistan 310/6 (101.2 ov)
Australia
A century from Azhar Ali and staunch support by Asad Shafiq frustrated Australia's bowlers but rain was a sickener for both sides on day two of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
Showers truncated the morning session and then re-emerged shortly after 5 pm to prevent any further play, meaning at least 78 scheduled overs were lost over the first two days. The inclement weather cut into the time available to Pakistan to force the result they need to stand a chance of winning the series.
In between the rain breaks, Azhar and Shafiq showed good composure to work through the early spells of the Australian pacemen then rotating the strike when Nathan Lyon's spin was introduced. After Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed perished to the second new ball, Mohammad Amir played some handsome strokes while Azhar forged on with impressive determination to push the score to 6 for 310 at stumps.
Azhar's hundred was his 12th in Tests, a brilliant exercise in restraint and patience to keep Australia in the field. The hosts looked a little less than their best in what was their fourth consecutive day in the field, when also including Pakistan's narrowly failed chase of 490 to win the first Test of the series in Brisbane.
In their search for a wicket, the Australians wasted a referral when Jackson Bird appealed for caught behind against Shafiq, before replays showed that ball was nowhere near bat.
Later in the same over, Shafiq drove Bird down the ground and the bowler touched the ball before it hit the stumps at the non-striker's end. Azhar quickly turned to regain his ground in time, before there was brief pandemonium at the ground when the third umpire flashed an OUT decision on the MCG's big screen.
This mistaken verdict was quickly rescinded, and following some light rain the batsmen resumed their occupation in the final few overs before lunch. Steven Smith tried himself and also Nic Maddinson in this brief period, and with a deft leg-side deflection off the latter Azhar made it to three-figures before the rain returned.
There was no further play before 3.30pm local time, and with Smith immediately taking the second new ball conditions became more challenging for the visiting batsmen. Shafiq was undone for 50 by an excellent away swinger from Bird, and Sarfraz also edged the moving ball, inching Josh Hazlewood further towards his 100th Test wicket in the process.
However, Amir ended Australian hopes of rolling up the tail, playing his shots with aplomb and adding 42 in quick time with the enduring Azhar. Pakistan have manoeuvred themselves into a strong position in this match, but the return of the rain lessened the meaning of that advantage.
Day 3
Pakistan 443/9d
Australia 278/2 (58.0 ov)
Australia trail by 165 runs with 8 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Bat dominated ball on day three of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. The imbalance frustrated Australia at first as Azhar Ali and Sohail Khan made hay, but David Warner and Usman Khawaja replied with aplomb to alleviate any anxieties in the home viewing area and leave a draw the most likely outcome on an increasingly friendly pitch.
Four hundred and eleven runs were harvested by the two sides for a mere five wickets. Azhar contributed 205, becoming the first Pakistani batsman to pass 200 twice in a single calendar year. He was just three short of Viv Richards' 32-year-old record for the highest Test score by a visiting Test batsman in Melbourne when his team declared on 9 for 443.
Sohail targeted Nathan Lyon in particular, sending four mighty sixes into the crowd at the northern end of the ground. Josh Hazlewood bowled manfully for 3 for 50 from 32.3 precise and persistent overs, but Lyon's expense was a source of discomfort for the Australians given the lack of an allrounder in the side.
Having spent six consecutive days in the field, across two Tests, Warner's response was belligerent if fortunate. Edges were frequent, and he was also bowled by a reverse swinging Wahab Riaz no-ball when on 81. An inside edge for four brought him his first century in almost a year, which he celebrated with his customary, sponsor-friendly leap that belied his poor form in the lead up to this Test.
Khawaja's innings of 95 was calmer, barely making a false move after he replaced Matt Renshaw at the crease. Renshaw, an impressively patient figure at the crease in his three Tests so far, swung presumptuously at Yasir Shah's well-flighted delivery and heard his off stump tilt back. But the legspinner was unable to follow up with bowling of sufficient discipline, and some of Misbah-ul-Haq's fields also caused observers to wonder.
The flow of runs continued more or less unabated in an extended final session, Warner motoring along at around a run a ball to eat into Pakistan's advantage. He scored plenty of his runs through the point and gully regions, and, after recording his 17th Test ton, sent a towering six down the ground off Yasir.
Wahab's spell of reverse swing should have resulted in Warner's dismissal short of a century, but his repeated no-balls for overstepping always seemed likely to end in tears at some stage. It was not the first time he had reprieved a batsman this year - doing likewise for Johnny Bairstow during Pakistan's drawn series in England.
The wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed had earlier caused widespread mirth when wasting a referral on a ball that beat Warner's bat by almost a foot, but he redeemed himself close to stumps by successfully reviewing Ian Gould's not out verdict on a tickle down the leg side by the opener. Warner partly gave himself away by walking halfway off before the decision was reached, ending an entertaining 144 and bringing his captain Steven Smith to the crease.
The start of play was delayed by more than half an hour on an overcast and sultry day due to the lightest of showers that hovered over the MCG. When it did eventually resume, Azhar and Amir commenced with intent to build Pakistan's tally before getting the Australians in to bat. Amir made it as far as 29 before feathering Mitchell Starc down the leg side to wicketkeeper Matthew Wade.
Light rain returned after an hour's play, but when the covers were removed Sohail launched into the bowling with rare venom swinging for the fences repeatedly, regardless of the fielders placed in the deep. No fewer than 88 runs were taken off the 10 overs leading to the lunch, including 15 from Starc's final over of the session.
On resumption, Sohail was narrowly run out, before Azhar completed his double-hundred with a nudge behind square leg. Wahab's dismissal, also Hazlewood's 100th's Test wicket, brought Misbah-ul-Haq's closure of the innings. Australia replied with verve, but another bleak forecast for day four would not fill either side with optimism.
Day 4
Pakistan 443/9d
Australia 465/6 (113.5 ov)
Australia lead by 22 runs with 4 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Australia's captain Steven Smith beat encroaching bad weather by a matter of minutes to post his 17th Test hundred before a monsoonal downpour all but ensured a drawn Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
Moments after Smith reached his 100, the umpires suspended play, a decision followed soon after by a deluge that was more tropical Brisbane than Melbourne's more typical southerly climate. It would take a pair of highly imaginative declarations from here to manufacture a result, with the hosts likely to be happy to sit on their 1-0 series lead.
Smith's ease at the crease contrasted with two more low scores for Nic Maddinson and Matthew Wade, neither of whom can be sure of their places in the XI, and made life difficult for the visitors who were also inconvenienced when Azhar Ali was helped from the field after suffering a stunning blow to the helmet when fielding at short leg.
Usman Khawaja fell three runs short of a century for the second time this summer but the emerging No. 5 Peter Handscomb also made a useful contribution in Smith's company before the monsoonal rain arrived. Whether either side is inclined to creativity to set-up a final-day run chase from here is a matter for conjecture.
As he had done in the Perth Test against South Africa, Khawaja made it to 97 before being dismissed, this time trying to cover drive Wahab Riaz and edging through to Sarfraz Ahmed. He had shelved the stroke when making an excellent century against South Africa under lights in Adelaide.
That wicket brought the Victorian Handscomb to the crease on his home ground, and he showed plenty of attacking intent to outpace Smith and close the gap with the visitors' total. On a pitch offering precious little to the bowlers, Pakistan reverted largely to a short-pitched angle of attack with a leg-side field.
Neither Handscomb nor Smith had too many awkward moments before the second new ball was taken, the former passing 50 for the third time in as many Tests. However in Mohammad Amir's first over with the fresh projectile, Handscomb was beaten by one delivery then, next ball, pushed a difficult return catch back to the bowler, who dropped it.
While Amir continued to bowl well, it was Sohail Khan who claimed the wicket, when Handscomb sliced an attempted drive to backward point. Maddinson accompanied Smith to lunch and made it as far as 22 after it, before yorking himself when dancing down the wicket to Yasir Shah to be bowled.
Wade connected with several meaty blows, one of which felled the double-centurion Azhar at bad pad, before he edged Sohail Khan to depart for another underwhelming score. It was around this time that the weather began to close in on the ground, and the umpires conferred over the matter of bad light before Smith forced one through an off-side gap for three runs to go to his second century in as many Tests.
That, then, was more or less that. A further 42 scheduled overs were lost from the match, meaning a more optimistic weather forecast for day five is most probably a moot point.
Day 5
Australia 8 for 624 dec beat Pakistan 9 for 443 dec and 163 by an innings and 18 runs
A double-century from Azhar Ali. Pakistan batting until after lunch on day three. No fewer than 141 overs lost to rain. Fifteen wickets in four days on a surface more concrete than pitch. Australia won the Boxing Day Test. Yep, really.
Pakistan fined for slow over rate
Pakistan have been fined for a slow over rate during the second Test against Australia at the MCG. Match referee Ranjan Madugalle imposed the fine after Pakistan were ruled to be two overs short of their target when time allowances were taken into consideration.
Players are fined 10% of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined 20%, in accordance with Article 2.5.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel. Misbah-ul-Haq was hence fined 40% of his match fee; he pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction.
In a conjuring act to rival those of Sydney 2010 and Adelaide 2006, Steven Smith's men produced a Test and series victory from seemingly nowhere. Nowhere that is, apart from Pakistan's unrivalled propensity for either triumph or disaster, with little in between.
This, we had been told, was a sturdier Pakistan, capable of fighting a match out in the manner they did at the Gabba after a horrid start. This was also the Pakistan side that had ascended to No. 1 in the world earlier in the year. But their descent from the summit has been just as rapid as Australia's: both sides know what it is like to lose five consecutive Tests from the moment they reached the top of the ICC's rankings.
From the opening moments of the day, Pakistan had looked a team worried about defeat, Australia a team alert to the prospect of victory. After Smith and Mitchell Starc supercharged their scoring rate so effectively as to post the highest ever Test total in Melbourne, a pair of early wickets either side of lunch gave the hosts a glimmer.
It was exploited brilliantly by Nathan Lyon, who in the space of a single spell unseated Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq. Under extreme pressure to hold his spot entering the final day, Lyon's response was emphatic, but not enough to cause Smith to keep him on after the tea break: he is not the first Australian spin bowler to struggle to retain the full confidence of his captain.
That being the case, the final blows were struck by the seamers. Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird and Starc all found deliveries incisive enough to cut through the tail, much to the delight of a final day crowd that swelled the total attendance to 142,188, a figure as admirable in the rain-affected circumstances as Australia's charge to victory.
Much of Pakistan's early bowling and fielding had been lacklustre when placed under pressure by Smith and Starc, personified by Sohail Khan's wretched drop of Starc at long-off. Sohail finished with three wickets but was one of four expensive bowlers, none able to contain even with the help of Misbah's often defensive fields.
So quickly did Smith and Starc score that the home captain had the luxury of declaring before the interval, meaning the visiting openers were compelled to survive two bursts of the new ball either side of lunch.
In four overs before the interval, Pakistan lost the wicket of Sami Aslam, dragging a ball from Hazlewood onto the stumps via his body. The first over of the afternoon brought another, when Babar Azam was struck on the pad by a Starc inswinger that the umpire Ian Gould judged to be hitting leg stump - a decision the batsman's referral showed to be marginal.
Younis scored freely enough until Lyon's introduction, when a fraction of extra bounce saw him turn an offbreak in the air towards short leg. Peter Handscomb moved forward to claim the chance a matter of millimetres above the turf. Misbah, out of sorts with the bat all series so far, tried a sweep first ball and then repeated it to his second, the top edge well caught around the corner by Nic Maddinson.
This double left the door ajar for Australia, and it opened further when Shafiq advanced and pushed Lyon directly to Handscomb, who this time hung on after a juggle. Lyon, for so long this summer a harried figure, was now dictating terms, and his team could sense a remarkable result.
It was a surprise when Smith did not keep Lyon on when play resumed, preferring Starc from the Great Southern Stand End. Hazlewood had found a modicum of reverse-swing and his tight lines were rewarded with Azhar's wicket, the opener's guard finally let down after 476 deliveries across two innings. Again, Gould ruled marginally in Australia's favour on an lbw.
That opened up an end, and after Bird surprised Mohammad Amir with a quicker delivery that was dragged onto the stumps, an exultant Starc blasted out Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah in a fashion that would have impressed Wasim Akram.
Australian celebrations were unrestrained and it was not hard to work out why. For most of the past five days it appeared that time was getting away from both sides; in the end Australia toasted victory with the last hour to spare.
3rd Test
Day 1
Australia 365/3 (88.0 ov)
Pakistan
Australia won the toss and elected to bat
David Warner enshrined himself among the greats of the game's past before Matt Renshaw secured his Australian future. On a day of contrasting openers and innings at the SCG, Warner blasted his way to the first century before lunch in Tests in Australia, then 20-year-old Renshaw dug in to become Australia's seventh-youngest centurion.
If Warner's innings was the favourite of a festive New Year's crowd, Renshaw will have delighted Australia's selectors, coaches and players with a display of the sort of calm assurance so vital to Test match success. Renshaw styled much of his game on England's Alastair Cook: working the ball repeatedly off his hip then driving and cutting occasionally he played very much the spit of an innings the older man made against Australia on this ground six years ago.
Having played a major role in Australia's win in Melbourne by scoring a rapid century, Warner doubled down with another intimidatory batting effort against Pakistani bowling that mixed the presentable with the ordinary on a blameless SCG pitch. Warner joined Victor Trumper, Charles Macartney, Sir Donald Bradman and Majid Khan as the only other men to score a century in the very first session of a Test. Majid was the most recent batsman to get there, making his century against New Zealand in Karachi in 1976-77.
While Warner was unable to go on for long after the interval, Renshaw wedged himself into the wicket, and was composed through the departures of Usman Khawaja and the captain Steven Smith before Pete Handscomb, another bright young thing, settled in. With the debutant Hilton Cartwright and an out of touch Matthew Wade below them, this pair played with some care to reach stumps.
After Smith won the toss and announced two changes to the Melbourne team, Steve O'Keefe and Cartwright, Warner rocketed away with a volley of boundaries in the first two overs of the match, the second of which was bowled by one of Pakistan's inclusions, Imran Khan. From there it seemed only a matter of Warner keeping his wicket intact and getting enough strike, two tasks he performed without much trouble as barely a ball beat the bat.
There were runs either side of the pitch for Warner; a lack of straight-driven boundaries reflecting both the pugilism of his method and also the shortish lengths favoured by Pakistan's bowlers. Pull shots and punches through the covers were most prevalent, all played with a level of hustling intent that suggested Warner always knew the hundred before lunch was on.
In the end Warner was able to go from 95 to 100 with a two and a three from the bowling of Wahab Riaz, the first a pull shot and the second a punch behind square on the off side that should only have been worth two but became the pivotal third via a misfield. Warner's celebration was typically ebullient; he had already made history in a match just two hours old.
It was to be Wahab who sent Warner back to the dressing room, via an SCG standing ovation, when he coaxed an indeterminate edge when trying to run the ball down through the gully region. Khawaja's edge arrived a few overs later from a more aggressive attempt to score, and it was Renshaw who got the balance right.
Smith, having been so dominant in Melbourne, surprised in edging an attempted cut at Yasir Shah and falling to an excellent catch by Sarfraz Ahmed, the prelude to a nervy period in the 90s for Renshaw after tea. On 91 his visor wore the brunt of a Mohammad Amir bouncer, and a check-up from the team doctor Peter Brukner was required before Renshaw continued.
In the end a hurried single was enough to take him to the milestone, triggering an outpouring of joy that reminded all present of the difficult spells he has already negotiated whether against Vernon Philander in Adelaide, Amir at the Gabba or a fiery Wahab here. Handscomb was meanwhile reprieved when Sarfraz failed to go with a Yasir legbreak that could have resulted in a stumping.
More runs flowed from Renshaw's bat, his stroke range expanding in direct correlation to the amount of time he spent in the middle. There is plenty of power in his tall frame, but the aversion he shows in the formative stages of his innings will serve him well in what now seem likely to be many years of Test batting to come.
Day 2
Australia 538/8d
Pakistan 126/2 (41.0 ov)
Pakistan trail by 412 runs with 8 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Azhar Ali and Younis Khan indicated they had no intention of leaving Australia quietly with a stubborn stand after Peter Handscomb maintained his Test-match honeymoon phase with a second century to lift Australia to 8 for 538 on a batsmen-friendly day two of the SCG Test.
When the visitors lost two wickets before tea, having been run ragged by David Warner, Matt Renshaw and then Handscomb, there seemed every chance of the procession continuing in the final session. Instead Azhar maintained his fine touch and found support from Younis, who was in need of a score after a barren tour.
Australia were not at their best in the field, Warner, in particular, was untidy, missing two run-outs and also dropping a difficult chance at leg slip off the bowling of Nathan Lyon in the day's penultimate over. The first run-out chance was the most egregious error, as Warner shied for a glory direct hit rather than passing the ball to the bowler Mitchell Starc with Azhar stranded halfway up the pitch.
Earlier, the hosts strode steadily towards an enormous first-innings tally against bowling that improved somewhat on the first day's effort, though Pakistan were not helped by more indifferent fielding from the captain Misbah-ul-Haq down.
Matt Renshaw's 184, which seems to have set him up for a long and fruitful Test career, was the highest by an opening batsman under the age of 21, and was only ended by a fine over from Imran Khan, who moved the ball to the left-hander across the crease before prompting him to drag onto the stumps.
Handscomb, meanwhile, did not allow himself to be frustrated by periods of slow scoring, utilising the sweep in particular to excellent effect - a good sign ahead of the tour of India. He survived a nervous period in the 90s to pass three figures on the same ground where he made a double century in the Sheffield Shield earlier this season to earn his Test spot.
Hilton Cartwright also showed patience, and showcased an organised technique with the exception of a couple of chances: a Yasir Shah leg break that beat him but also the wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed, and an edge off Azhar's part-timers that eluded Younis at first slip.
There had been hope of Renshaw going past 200 when play began, and, in the early overs, it seemed there was little to stop him. It took Imran's artful use of the crease and line to prompt the false stroke that brought his downfall, but he departed the ground with the applause of thousands ringing in his 20-year-old ears.
Cartwright arrived to face a first ball from Mohammad Amir, and stroked a full offering through cover with plenty of confidence. Thereafter he was somewhat becalmed and gave up the aforementioned chances, but a half-century stand in Handscomb's capable company was a more than useful start.
After lunch, Handscomb reached the outskirts of his hundred before Cartwright was bowled by Imran; then, some quick scoring by Matthew Wade and Mitchell Starc drew Steven Smith's declaration. In the 15 minutes to the tea interval, Hazlewood had an impact, though debutant Sharjeel Khan's technique was questionable to say the least, as he waved his bat at Hazlewood to be taken at slip.
Babar Azam, who fell in the same over, should also have been expected to keep out a ball that was full and straight but not really moving through the air or off the seam, evidence that the time in the field had left the visitors with heavy legs. There was time for one over of spin - from the recalled Steve O'Keefe - before the tea break.
When Azhar hurtled down the wicket for a single that did not interest Younis, it appeared a third wicket was about to fall, but Warner's preference to shy at the stumps offered the reprieve the batsmen needed. Both would play some fine strokes off pace and spin, as neither Lyon nor O'Keefe could get much turn from a drying but still decidedly flat surface. Cartwright's bowling debut was steady at best.
This is not to say Pakistan are out of trouble; the way the Melbourne Test panned out attests to the fact they are far from it. But the comfort with which Azhar stroked a boundary in the final over of the day suggested that plenty of runs remain in the surface, provided the tourists put their minds to it.
Day 3
Australia 538/8d
Pakistan 271/8 (95.0 ov)
Pakistan trail by 267 runs with 2 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Good things come to those who wait. For the SCG crowd it was a couple of sessions of full-blooded play after waiting more than four hours in the rain. For Younis Khan it was a first century in Australia at the end of a barren tour. Most importantly, it was a rush of wickets for the patient hosts to give them a firm grip of the Pink Test with two days left.
The wickets were as much due to Pakistani inattention as Australian excellence, with Azhar Ali and the captain Misbah-ul-Haq most due for introspection after falling prey to a run-out and a slog at Nathan Lyon, respectively. Asad Shafiq fell to a sublime catch by Steven Smith when he was already appealing for lbw, while Sarfraz Ahmed was accounted for by the extra bounce of the new ball in Mitchell Starc's hands.
Play was delayed until 2.45pm by light but persistent showers, reducing the minimum overs to be bowled on the day to 54. Younis, though, was unperturbed by the break, continuing in a methodical manner on resumption and working his way towards a century. The milestone made him the only man to have a made a century in all 10 Test-playing nations plus Pakistan's adopted home in the UAE.
He was however complicit in the critical run out of Azhar, who made it as far as 71 before he was undone by the combination of a ball driven fractionally out of the reach of mid-on - whom he had to wait for - and the strong left arm of Starc, who threw adroitly to the substitute gloveman Peter Handscomb; Matthew Wade being off the field and back at the team hotel with illness.
There had been some reverse-swing for Starc and Josh Hazlewood when play began, the captain Smith preferring the pace pair to spin for the first 12 overs of the day. In that time Azhar evaded a close lbw shout from Hazlewood when on 59, the ball hitting leg stump but not enough to overrule the on-field call.
Azhar Ali's run-out ended a stubborn 146-run stand © Getty Images
A couple of other shots fell fractionally short of the fielders, and when Lyon was introduced he was able to gain some appreciable turn. However Azhar's run-out was the only wicket, as Misbah hung on grimly in Younis' more comfortable company until tea.
One of the more intriguing duels in this series has been that of Misbah and Lyon; more or less the inverse of how things panned out in the UAE in 2014. While Misbah has tried to attack Lyon in the old familiar style, balls have been going to hand rather than over the boundary, and so it was again when he swung for the Bill O'Reilly Stand and could only find the substitute fielder Jackson Bird.
At the other end Steve O'Keefe bowled neatly, challenging the stumps from wide of the crease, and was going up to appeal against Asad Shafiq when a ball skidded on seemingly past the inside edge. Smith was up too, but somehow composed himself to claim a one-handed catch via Handscomb's leg, which replays showed was the mode of dismissal due to the the thinnest of deflections from the bat.
Sarfraz showed his familiar attacking intent but was unable to get over the new ball, offering another chance well held by Bird. Mohammad Amir showed rather less composure than he had done on previous visits to the middle, swishing Lyon heedlessly to mid-off. When Wahab Riaz was bowled by Lyon's sharp offbreak in the penultimate over Australia were very much ascendant, in spite of Younis' best efforts.
Day 4
Australia 538/8d & 241/2d
Pakistan 315 & 55/1
Pakistan require another 410 runs with 9 wickets remaining
Rain cleared in Sydney for the second time in as many days to allow further progression of the SCG Test but Pakistan will require a world record cloudburst of strokes to prevent Australia advancing to a third victory from as many matches in the series on Saturday.
A firecracker of an innings by David Warner and handsome hands from Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja helped the hosts set Pakistan a distant 465 to win after Younis Khan's excellent rearguard dissuaded the hosts from enforcing the follow-on. The wicket of an aggressive Sharjeel Khan gave Smith an opening before the close.
The entirety of the first session was lost for the second time in as many days, but Smith's team made up for lost time by rattling off 241 in a mere 32 overs. Warner was certainly not in the mood to linger, hammering 55 from 27 balls to put Pakistan immediately on the back foot. He took particular toll on Yasir Shah, taking one over for 22.
Smith and Khawaja followed up with plenty of telling blows of their own to stretch the lead, with the captain ultimately closing the innings with 16 overs left in the day and another 98 on day five. Sharjeel's attacking instincts were given brief vent but his time in the middle on debut was ended when he flicked without due care and attention to Warner, lurking at midwicket.
Earlier, Yasir had lasted more than an hour in the company of Younis to ensure Smith needed to call upon Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood more than he would have preferred if he were to send Pakistan back in. Hazlewood finished an exemplary display with four wickets, the last of which a sharp reverse swinger to bowl Imran Khan for a duck.
Australia had one glimmer of hope to end Pakistan's innings quickly when play got under way, as Starc coaxed an outside edge from Younis' bat. However, Matthew Wade, back on the field having missed most of day three due to illness, was unable to hold onto the edge as he dived to his right.
By the time Hazlewood found Yasir's edge, 44 runs had been wiped off the deficit and Younis had gone well past 150. Australia will be without Matt Renshaw, ruled out of the match due to the symptoms of concussion after being struck twice in the helmet in the first three days.
Khawaja duly walked out with Warner, and was in a great spot for a spectator as Australia's vice-captain fired shots to all parts and briefly threatened the world record for fastest Test hundred as a follow-up to his century before lunch on day one of this match.
In the end Warner got a fraction ahead of himself, bowled when aiming an ugly smear at Wahab Riaz, but he earned a second standing ovation of the Test and allowed Khawaja and Smith to carry on comfortably in his wake - the captain ended the session with a thumping six into the SCG Members.
The runs continued to flow after tea, Smith moving along at a scarcely slower pace than Warner had set, and he was surprised to be given out when the third umpire Ian Gould detected the merest touch on the glove down the leg side when he tried to sweep Yasir. There was time for some flourish from Peter Handscomb before the declaration arrived, leaving Australia with plenty of time to chase a clean sweep of the series.
Day 5
Australia 538/8d & 241/2d
Pakistan 315 & 244
Australia won by 220 runs
For Australia, a quadruple triple. For Pakistan, a wretched dozen. Steven Smith's men completed another crushing victory over the crestfallen visitors on a balmy day at the SCG, making it 12 consecutive wins for the Australians in home Tests against Pakistani touring teams - four clean sweeps in a row dating back to 1999.
There never seemed much doubt over the result when the final day began, and even less when Josh Hazlewood struck twice in the first half hour to maintain his outstanding record this summer. From there Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe worked their way through the Pakistan line-up, with Hazlewood returning to claim the final wicket on the stroke of the tea break.
Ahead of the Test team's next job in India, the use of spin on a wearing wicket gave Smith and the coach Darren Lehmann some idea of where Lyon and O'Keefe sat. Lyon bowled some beguiling spells, notably to Younis Khan, but O'Keefe finished the day with the superior figures - 3 for 53 as opposed to 2 for 100.
The match played out in an agreeable atmosphere, as a decent crowd of 17,583 filed in for the price of a gold coin donation to the Jane McGrath Foundation. They saved some of their biggest cheers for the substitute fielder Mickey Edwards, a seam bowler from the Manly grade club who sported a surfer's mane of hair in weather that could scarcely have been more beach-friendly.
Hazlewood set the tone in the first over of the day, accepting a return catch from Azhar Ali, and followed up by claiming Babar Azam lbw for the second time in the match. Lyon's teasing spell to Younis was rewarded when the batsman lost patience and skied an attempt to hit over midwicket. A leading edge was accepted comfortably by Hazlewood at mid-on. Younis finished the Test on 9977 runs.
The nightwatchman Yasir Shah had offered considerable resistance to Australia, but was defeated by an O'Keefe delivery that turned and bounced enough to catch the edge and was taken low down at second slip by the substitute fielder Jackson Bird. Misbah did not look at ease at any stage of his innings, but found a way to survive to lunch in the company of the more proactive Asad Shafiq.
On resumption Shafiq got as far as 30 before Starc found a hint of reverse swing into the right-hander from around the wicket to bowl him off an inside edge. Sarfraz continued in a similarly positive vein opposite Misbah, the pair adding 52 in only 13.3 overs. However, Australia broke through when Misbah aimed an extravagant heave at O'Keefe and was caught attempting to slog a spin bowler for the second time in the match.
Wahab Riaz fell next, apparently mystified as to how the umpire Richard Illingworth's not-out verdict could have been overturned. Matthew Wade heard the faintest of sounds as O'Keefe spun the ball past the bat, and his appeal was backed up by the merest possible spike on Snicko for the third umpire Ian Gould to rule in the bowler's favour.
Mohammad Amir's stay was ended by a wretched run-out, and Smith took the second new ball minutes before the scheduled tea break to allow the excellent Hazlewood to claim the last wicket with extra bounce and another catch to Bird - his four snaffles equalling the world record for a substitute.
In recent years, beating Pakistan down under has been one of the least challenging tasks Australia can contemplate; their next assignment, facing up to India in India, is by far the most difficult.
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