After Australia bundled out Pakistan for 148 on Day 3, Australia chose not to enforce the follow-on and batted again. Resuming at 81/1 on Day 4, Australia batted for just 5.3 overs on Day 4, declaring the innings and setting a target of 506 for Pakistan to chase with almost two days in hand. After an extremely slow start, Pakistan lost Imam-ul-Haq and Azhar Ali inside the first hour post Lunch, Babar Azam batted through the day with a superlative inning of 102 in the company of Abdullah Shafique, who himself is well set on 71. On the final day, Pakistan need a further 314 runs to achieve the highest successful run chase in Test history. Let’s look at some key moments from the fourth day’s play of the second Test.
Australia’s timing of the declaration
With the pitch not offering much assistance despite a few visible cracks, Australia batted just 5.3 overs on Day 4 before declaring with 505 runs ahead. It seemed bizarre, with Australia adding just 16 runs to the overnight score. However, there could have been a couple of reasons behind the timing of their declaration.
First, a shorter changeover time between the innings for Pakistan’s openers and not allowing them time to settle in mentally. Another reason for batting just 5.3 overs could be the timing of the availability of the second new ball. Australia got that thing right, taking the second new ball with two overs to go to Stumps. This will also mean that if the match goes to the last session of the day, they will have an option to take the third new ball and still have 12 overs with a brand-new ball.
Australia’s dynamic tactics
Throughout the day, Australia kept changing their approach. Initially, they kept their line outside the off stump, challenging the outside edge of the openers. Although they didn’t succeed in inducing the edge, they didn’t concede a run in the first four overs. Pat Cummins quickly switched to the spin of Swepson and Lyon, with the leggie finding decent grip off the surface with a newish ball.
Another reason for Australia quickly switching to the spinners could be to rest their pace bowlers till the ball gets old enough for it to reverse, mostly around the 20-over mark. To roughen up the ball a bit more, Australian fielders kept throwing the ball on the bounce to the keeper, throwing the ball mostly onto the adjacent pitches. Although it didn’t yield them any tangible results, their tactics were reasonable.
Australia changed their tactics again during the second half of the day, with Swepson resorting to bowling from round the wicket to both the right-handers. With both batters being set and milking easy singles, this line of attack made the batters force their way to scoring runs and induced more false shots. Azam and Shafique had a control percentage of 95 and 91, respectively, at the 60-over mark, with both batters well past their fifties. But since Australia changed their tactics, their control over the shots reduced, and Azam and Shafique ended the day’s play with a control percentage of 86 and 88, respectively.
A big reason behind a 9% fall in Azam’s control was Australia forcing him to sweep the ball more often with the round-the-wicket line. Azam is a reluctant sweeper and doesn’t play the shot with conviction, which affects his control over the shot. He even got to his hundred with a top edge of an uncontrolled sweep shot, which ballooned over David Warner at fine leg.
Babar’s magnificent hundred
Babar Azam hadn’t scored a Test century since February 2020, but when his team needed him the most, he stood up with an excellent hundred. One of the highlights of Azam’s game was his economical movement before and while playing the ball.
Azam didn’t have an exaggerated shuffle at the crease before playing the ball. Then, he didn’t commit to the front foot with a long stride forward. His balanced stance and economic movement at the crease helped him stay light on his feet and kept him in good shape while playing the ball off the front foot as well as back foot.
On a few occasions, he didn’t even go onto the back foot to punch the ball or pull it, as his balanced stance allowed him to transfer his body weight onto his back foot without moving his back leg more.
With all four results possible going into the final day of the Test, the match is set up nicely, and a lot will rest on the shoulders of Pakistan’s skipper for them to create history by chasing the total. Australia should still believe that it is their game to lose, and they need to be patient and stick to their plans to go 1-0 in the series.