Abdullah Shafique and Azhar Ali dug in until lunch at the start of a huge task to save the game
Pakistan 148 and 18 for 1 need 488 more runs to beat Australia 556 for 9 dec and 97 for 2 dec
Pakistan’s daunting task of staving off a second Test defeat started badly with the wicket of opener Imam-ul-Haq after Australia declared their second innings earlier than expected on day four.
Needing to survive 172 overs, Pakistan were 18 for 1 at lunch with Abdullah Shafique 14 not out and Azhar Ali unbeaten on 3 from 47 balls. They still need another 488 runs in their second innings for a record victory but are very much focused on stonewalling having already faced 21 overs.
With oppressive conditions in Karachi throughout the match, the pitch is marked by widening cracks in a contrast to the docile Rawalpindi deck amid a stale first Test draw. There has been sharp turn and variable bounce evident, while quicks Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc conjured a hint of reverse swing before lunch.
Cummins, who has seemingly made all the right moves this Test, introduced spin into the attack early and it proved a masterstroke with Nathan Lyon snaring Imam lbw for 1 in the sixth over. The offspinner ended the opener’s painstaking 18-ball knock with a delivery that slid on and confirmed to hit middle stump after the opener desperately called for a review. It completed a miserable match for Imam, who fell loosely to Lyon for 20 in the first innings after his twin centuries in Rawalpindi.
Fresh from a breather while their batters faced 22.3 overs, Cummins and Starc, who starred with 3 for 29 in Pakistan’s first innings, didn’t concede a run bowling in tandem in the first four overs.
With Pakistan hunkering down, Cummins deployed debutant Mitchell Swepson, who claimed two wickets on day three, in the fifth over and he displayed sharp turn from the get go to fizz past the bat of Shafique.
Swepson, Australia’s first specialist legspinner since Bryce McGain in 2009, was loose in Pakistan’s first innings but looked more comfortable here with a succession of full and accurate bowling.
Heading into day four, there was intrigue on when Cummins would declare after he raised some eyebrows late on day three when he opted to bat again even though Australia routed Pakistan for 148 in just 53 overs.
Cummins had also preferred a conservative approach after waiting until Australia racked up a marathon 556 for 9 off 189 overs in their first innings.
But Australia batted for just 25 minutes before the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne on 44 prompted Cummins to declare at 97 for 2 – their third lowest total they have declared on in Tests.
The only other time Australia declared both their innings in a Test in Asia was against India during the famous tied Test in Chennai in 1986.
With everyone waiting for the inevitable declaration, play went through the motions with Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja bogged down against accurate bowling from quicks Hasan Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was rewarded with the wicket of Labuschagne.
Khawaja, who has hit three tons in six previous innings since his recall, finished 44 not out as the declaration cut short his chance of adding a second twin century in his last four Tests.
But it’s given Australia almost two full days to win their first ever Test in Pakistan’s fortress of Karachi.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth