PERTH (Reuters) – Australia’s bowlers took wickets evenly on Saturday, with off-spinner Nathan Lyon forced to wait a bit longer for his 500th wicket after Pakistan folded for 271 in their first innings. This gave the hosts a 300-run lead on day three of the first test. Lyon currently sits on 499 test wickets after claiming 3-66, while Imam-ul-Haq top-scored with 62 for the visitors, who were bowled out in 101.5 overs.
Australia chose not to enforce the follow-on and ended the day on 84-2 from 33 overs after posting 487 in their first innings.
When play resumed on 132-2, Pakistan almost lost Khurram Shahzad to a run-out on the first ball of the day. However, skipper Pat Cummins (2-35) prevented further damage by clean-bowling the nightwatchman (7) two deliveries later. Imam, who uncharacteristically danced past a Lyon delivery and got stumped by Alex Carey, had consolidated with Pakistan’s premier batsman Babar Azam (21), but a collapse before lunch saw the tourists lose three quick wickets for 14 runs.
Agha Salman’s resistance (28 not out) propped up Pakistan, but Lyon was able to capture his second stumping for wicket 499 when Aamer Jamal (10) was dismissed, much to the anticipation of the modest crowd of 15,956, eager to witness the impending milestone moment. Part-time spinner Travis Head ended the Pakistan innings by tempting tail-ender Shaheen Afridi into a slog-sweep which was caught by Usman Khawaja at mid-on.
In the post-tea session, Australia lost first innings centurion David Warner for a duck and Marnus Labuschagne for two as Shahzad’s double-strike threatened to inject some spice into the contest. Pacers Shahzad and Afridi showed a better understanding of the Perth Stadium conditions in their second effort, aided by a slight deterioration of the surface, as they bowled with aggression to restrict the hosts to seven runs in the first 10 overs.
Khawaja and Steve Smith slowly steadied the ship, but not without a late scare when Smith hooked Afridi just over the head of deep fine leg for six. This saw their side through to the close with an unbeaten 34 and 43, respectively.
(Reporting by Joel Dubber in Perth; Editing by Ken Ferris)
