Istafa Ali
The Australian captain, Pat Cummins, took 10 wickets in the Melbourne Test, which helped his team win the second match against Pakistan.
It looked like the Boxing Day Test would come down to the last ball on the last day, but the paceman came in and got Mohammad Rizwan out, who was Pakistan’s last known batter. It was his 250th test wicket.
After that, Cummins (5-49) got Aamer Jamal out for a duck, which led to an extra 30 minutes of play. During that time, he got his fifth wicket of the innings and 10th of the match to help clean up the tail.
It was his second 10-wicket haul in 57 tests, and it was the perfect end to a great year in which he led Australia to victory in the World Test Championship, the 50-overs World Cup, and the Ashes in England.
“What a crazy year. Many runs scored and many wins on the field, said Cummins, who won the Man of the Match award.
“I think we’re going to look back and remember 2023 as one of the special ones.”
After bowling Australia out for 262 runs before lunch and setting a tough goal of 317 runs to win, the visitors formed a number of partnerships that made it hard for Australia’s strong attack.
When Rizwan (35) and Agha Salman (50) put together the last big stand, bringing the score below 100 runs, there were some worries at home. But the game changed forever when Cummins broke up the pair.
During the first four days, Pakistan threatened to take over the match more than once, but each time they let the Australians off the hook.
Australia came back from being 16-4 at lunchtime on Thursday thanks to Mitchell Marsh’s 96-run knock. They started the day on 187-6 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on a sunny morning.
Before seamer Mir Hamza (4-32) caught Alex Carey leg before, he got 52 to help the team take a bigger lead. This ended the innings.
Only one team had ever been able to score more than 300 runs in the fourth innings at the MCG in 146 years of test matches. This meant that Pakistan was always going to be up against it.
Australia won the first test by 360 runs in Perth, after the visitors were out for 89 in the fourth innings. Early signs suggested that the same thing would happen in Melbourne.
Pakistan lost a lot of runs because Abdullah Shafique dropped slip catches in both innings. Before lunch, he was out for four when he lunged at a Mitchell Starc ball and Usman Khawaja caught him in the cordon.
Soon after the game started again, Cummins caught Imam-Ul-Haq in front for 12. However, a 61-run partnership between Shan Masood and Babar Azam stopped Australia’s progress.
Another big moment came when Cummins got Masood to edge, which Steve Smith caught in the slips with the Pakistan leader on 60.
Azam kept the scoreboard going, but Australia’s bowlers were patient as they went after the top of his off stump. Josh Hazlewood got the prize when he nipped one back and bowled the Pakistani danger man for 41.
Pakistan made another partnership, but it was only worth 16 runs when Starc (4-55) bowled a big ball that Saud Shakeel hit over the wicket and Carey caught it for 24. Pakistan was still 155 runs away from their goal.
While his team was so close to stopping a 15-game losing streak in Australia that began in 1995, Masood seemed surprisingly happy.
The 34-year-old said, “In the bigger picture, this is how we want to play test cricket.” His team will have another chance to break that streak in the third test next week in Sydney.
“Playing test cricket in these conditions, fighting until the end, and there is a chance for us to win.” I believe we should work together on that.”
