Dominant Khawaja moves Australia to 332-4 against Pakistan
Usman Khawaja continued to dominate Pakistan bowlers on a slow and flat wicket as Australia progressed to 332-4 at lunch on Day 2 of the second test on Sunday.
KARACHI, TGO: Usman Khawaja continued to dominate Pakistan bowlers on a slow and flat wicket as Australia progressed to 332-4 at lunch on Day 2 of the second test on Sunday.
Khawaja, who scored a century in the country of his birth on the first day, moved to sedate 155 in six hours and 46 minutes of superb display of patient batting with Travis Head not out on 14.
Pakistan had another frustrating session and got the sole wicket of night watchman Nathan Lyon (38) with the flat wicket doing little to assist either Pakistan spin or pace, even with the second new ball just 10 overs old.
Lyon defied Pakistan for an hour and 15 minutes after Australia resumed on overnight 251-3 with Pakistan fast bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali giving no lateral movement to trouble the batters.
Pakistan had its chances to break the stand, but its lbw television referral against Lyon in the day’s third over of Hasan Ali was unsuccessful.
Faheem Ashraf (2-47) then dropped a one-handed catch off his own bowling when Lyon had reached 31 before the right-arm seamer finally broke the partnership when he had Lyon’s middle-stump knocked back.
Khawaja, 127 overnight, waited patiently and struck only two more boundaries in the session, flicking Shaheen Afridi through mid-wicket boundary in the day’s fourth over and then edging Ashraf through slip and gully.
Khawaja, who has hit 15 fours and a six, raised his 150 off 322 balls with a single behind square leg off Hasan Ali as Pakistan bowlers couldn’t pose any challenge to Khawaja. Head went off the mark with a cut to point boundary off Ashraf before he twice smashed Hasan to the same region in an over.
Australia’s first test in Pakistan since 1998 ended in a draw in Rawalpindi where the pitch was rated as below average by the ICC.
