Aus vs Pak: Test 3 Day 3 - Australia established a stronghold in the match with a lead of 134 runs
2 days left in the third test match, and Australia are already leading with 134 runs without any loss of wicket.
Image credit: pia.images.co.uk Pat Cummins deadly in combination with Mitchell Starc spell in tandem with StarcA brilliant performance from Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have given a decisive turn to this Final Test match which might provide a winner rather than a dull draw.
Australia's patience paid in the last 90 minutes.
Abdullah Shafique and Azhar Ali started day 3 with their solid plans of batting long. 150 runs partnership between the duo deflated the Australian bowlers for the complete two sessions of the day, but Australia didn't give up and kept doing the right thing. Babaz Azam also started playing a handy knock, but after Mitchell Starc bowled Fawad Alam, Pakistan couldn't save the innings. The final 90 minutes of the game just turned the whole match around. Pakistan lost 7 wickets on a small run margin of 20. They went from 248 for 3 to 268 all out. The deadly duo combination of Captain Pat Cummins (5 Wickets) and Mitchell Starc (4 Wickets) got the reverse swing and the wicket started falling. Together they ended up taking 9 wickets of Pakistan's first innings.
"I thought we bowled really well the first two sessions but didn't quite get the rewards so the message [at tea] was just to hang in there," said Australian Captain Pat Cummins. He added further on the game plan, "We saw in our batting innings that things could happen quickly if you get one breakthrough, especially when the ball is reversing. Luckily just got that breakthrough through Stacy, and things sped up. [On discussing the right length] It was for two reasons. The first one is to maintain the score rate, but that's where we feel like the most opportunities present themselves. This wicket has not a lot of bounce. So we felt we could hit that 7-8 meter length and still hit the top of the stumps. It's all a bit of a blur the last couple of hours. We'll sit back and bat tomorrow."
Australia in the winning gear
Australia came to bat for their second innings with only 3 overs left in the day. Usman Khawaja and David Warner made it look easy and survived the 18 balls scoring 11 runs with the help of 2 boundaries.
The series finally have taken an exciting turn. The host - Pakistan - is on the back foot, and Australia has a beautiful opportunity to turn this into a victory and sear the series. The draw is off the table unless Australia doesn't make some grave mistake or Pakistan bowls some exceptional record-breaking bowling. With 134 runs as lead, it will be an exciting day 4 tomorrow.