Pak vs Australia 2nd Test Day 2 Live Scores: Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Day 2 of the Pakistan vs Australia 2nd Test from the National Stadium Karachi. Usman Khawaja will try to convert his century into a big score on the second day of the Karachi Test. Australia’s batsmen completely dominated the first day as the flat pitch doesn’t have much for the fast bowlers.
Opener Usman Khawaja did not miss his second chance to score a century in the country of his birth and took Australia 251-3 to stumps on the first day of the second Test against Pakistan on Saturday.
After missing a century in the first Test in Rawalpindi, Khawaja hit another flat wicket with an unbeaten 127 off 266 balls, which ended in a draw. The damp pitch at Pindi Cricket Stadium was later declared “below average” by the ICC.
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Khawaja, who moved with his family to Australia at the age of 4, said, “It (century) meant a lot to me. Obviously my family is from Karachi, I was born in Islamabad and I loved to score. Hundred in Pakistan.”
Khawaja and Steve Smith (72) put on a 159-run partnership before breaking Pakistan with the second new ball when Faheem Ashraf struck a brilliant one-handed short at slip to dismiss Smith off Hasan Ali (1-31). Took a catch ,
Nightwatchman Nathan Lyon had yet to score and missed a catch when Imam-ul-Haq could not catch a tough chance at short leg off Shaheen Afridi’s last ball of the day.
Pakistan also went for a failed catch on the back of a televised review of Khawaja off the new ball in Afridi’s first over, before being struck by Hasan in the final over of the day.
Pakistan deployed their spinners for 26 overs last season, but their negative strategy of bowling both batsmen legside did nothing more than slow down the Australian scoring rate.
Pakistan vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan said, “It was not negative bowling, we just tried to dry up the runs as they benefited from the dry wicket and scored 100 runs in the first session.”
“I still believe we can get results on this pitch and later it will be the turn for the spinners.”
Khawaja, who hit his half-century off 69 balls in the first session, did not disappoint and waited patiently before completing his century in the last session off 193 balls with 12 fours and a six.
Smith has not scored a Test century in the last 27 Test innings, but scored his second successive half-century in 214 balls with seven fours in Australia’s first tour of Pakistan since 1998, before Ashraf took an impressive catch.
Earlier, with Pakistan getting two quick wickets before lunch, Khawaja and Smith played with the bowlers on a humble wicket, with both the teams hoping for help from the spinners as the game progresses.
Khawaja was particularly strong with his pads on the leg-side against the fast bowlers and even swung the two spinners around comfortably as the wicket did not provide any assistance to the bowlers.
Khawaja and David Warner (36) provided Australia a quick start to 82 runs after skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat. Pakistan bounced back with two wickets, but Australia still managed to reach 100-2 in the first session.
Pakistan came back in the last hour before lunch when Ashraf (1-32) found the outside edge of Warner’s bat on a ball that had gone just short of the left-hander.
Marnus Labuschagne, who faced nine balls, was run out without a run when he could not beat Sajid Khan’s straight throw at mid-off and fell down his crease at the non-striker’s end.
Khawaja, who was dismissed for 97 in the first Test, and Warner dominated the first hour with 63 in the first 14 overs.
Fast bowler Hasan Ali, one of two changes Pakistan made in the first Test with Ashraf, and Afridi getting no movement on a flat, grassless surface.
Both the batsmen were not bothered by the fast bowlers and they took two quick wickets of Pakistan against the spinners by hitting straight sixes off off-spinner Sajid Khan.
Earlier, leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson was awarded his Test debut as the 28-year-old Queenslander replaced pacer Josh Hazlewood to make Australia the only change in the first Test, which ended in a draw on a humble wicket in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan also made two changes but retained both their specialist spinners Sajid (0-71) and left-arm spinner Nauman Ali (0-56), who took a career-best 6-107 in the first Test, but before that Australia didn’t make one. Solid answer, ranking 449.
Both Hasan and Ashraf returned after missing the first Test due to injuries. He replaced fast bowler Naseem Shah and all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed.
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