Exciting PAK v AUS Test Ends in Draw

October 11, 2018 Dwayne Fernandes Cricket Scoops, Sports Scoops 0

I often hear arguments and debates in cricket that begin with ‘Is Test Cricket Dead?’

To all those haters of test cricket, I would like you to watch highlights of the 1st test between Pakistan and Australia at Dubai. Well, there are plenty of examples of gripping test matches but this was the most recent example of a grinding 5-day game which has gone down to the final day, final session, final over and in fact, final ball.

Australia is of course, one of the best cricketing nations in the world but with their premier batsmen David Warner and Steve Smith out of the squad, they came into this series crippled. Not many knew that this first game between these two teams would be such an entertaining one, that went all the way down to the wire.

Pakistan batted first and put up 482/10 in their 1st innings, thanks mostly to centuries from Mohammad Hafeez and Haris Sohail. Then, Bilal Asif on debut bowled an outstanding spell of 6/36 as Australia were bundled out for 202/10. Pakistan didn’t enforce the follow on and then added 181/6 decl. in their 2nd innings, setting Australia 462 runs to win in the final innings of the game. Many would question if Pakistan batted on for too long and whether 450+ was really needed.

It all came down to that 4th innings and Yasir Shah was the game-changer as Australia seemed to be cruising along to getting a draw in the 1st Test. They were batting at 331/5 due to Usman Khawaja’s fighting knock of 141(302) until Shah came in and picked three quick wickets to get them back to 333/8.

The Aussies then fought, battled or whatever else you want to call it, but that 9th wicket partnership went on for 12.1 overs as the team batted for a total of 139.1 overs in the 4th innings to save the test match, which is a monumental effort for a test in Asia. Overall, well done Australia – a young side that did remarkably well to draw this game and stay alive in the series after the bad position they were in earlier in the game. This was their longest 4th innings effort in 47 years.

Now you tell me. Is test cricket dead?