Recent Match Report – Australia vs Pakistan 3rd Test 2021/22

In-form Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith were beaten by a sedate second session as Australia continued their fight back in the series deciding third Test after a spectacular early attack on day one from Pakistan fast Shaheen Shah Afridi.

After winning a decisive toss and choosing the bat, Australia recovered from a nervous 8 for 2 to reach tea at 145 for 2 with Khawaja at 69 not out and Smith unbeaten at 58. taking the third over after Afridi David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne in the space of three balls.

The wicket has been flattened since Pakistan’s quicks conjured upside down swings in Australia on a narrow line with precise bowling in an attritional session, recalling many Stalmates during the excellent tests at Rawalpindi and Karachi.

After struggling through two sessions, Khawaja finds himself in a familiar position and has hit three tons and six previous innings since being recalled to the team in January. A determined Smith shot just 30 runs in the session, but continued to show his preference for controversy as he notched his third straight half-century for the series.

A disciplined Smith, who has only shot one Test ton in his last 28 innings, is just eight runs away from being the fastest batter to reach 8000 Test runs. The 32-year-old started excellently before going into his shell unlike Khawaja, who was initially uncharacteristically slow before hitting his shackles and was the first half-century with a cut to the border in front of Sajid Khan.

In a tense battle after lunch, Afridi shot around the wicket at Smith and fired piercing Yorker, but to no avail. Smith underlined Afridi’s best efforts, underlined by a raucous appeal to lbw, which replays showed hit flush on the bat.

Afridi blocked the ball to suggest that the setback was going to be obvious and he soon moved the ball around, but a breakthrough was not foreseen against this set batter.

Quick Hasan Ali has struggled since his return after missing the first Test due to an injury, but began to enchant in the swing and a focused Smith forced to pull well over his stems in defense. With the speed unable to break the stand, Sajid fired a long spell in the second session, but could not produce noticeable turnaround.

Pakistan was left to cut Smith and Khawaja on consecutive deliveries before lunch after left-arm spinner Nauman Ali came under attack. Captain Babar Azam missed a chance at the slide to fire Khawaja, then a rash Smith advanced but broke it right back to Nauman, who missed the return catch as the batter set up immediately.

These opportunities abolished the early dominance for Pakistan after the left arm quickly fired Afridi a fuse under the test with an excellent five-over opening to leave the sparse crowd on the terraces cheering.

After such barren stretches in this series, a red hot Afridi hit in the third over when he caught Warner lbw for 7 with a pearler from a delivery that back then two balls later lured Labuschagne into a loose drive behind.

After the words spoke to the incoming batter, Afridi took over a scintillation with a big lbw screaming first delivery to Smith but it slammed off the line. Even though Smith survived, Australia were surprised after Labuschagne, the world number one batter, fell for his second duck in three innings, and Warner’s relatively slim series continued and he now has 39 international innings without Century.

Pakistan stopped their attack by recalling the fast-paced Naseem Shah, who was on fire in the first Test, at the expense of all-rounder Faheem Ashraf, as they resisted, including the undefeated leg spinner Zahid Mahmood.

Naseem shot accurately to keep Australia at bay, but Pakistan’s bowlers were preparing for another long run in the field.