Australian opener Usman Khawaja missed out on a century in the country of his birth by three runs as his side made a strong response to Pakistan on the third day of the first Test in Rawalpindi.
Bad light stopped play and then rain poured down with Australia on 271-2, trailing Pakistan by 205 runs with eight wickets remaining after the home side declared at 476-4 on Saturday.
Marnus Labuschagne was on 69 and Steven Smith 24.
With rain forecast for the last two days a result is unlikely. The second Test in Karachi is from March 12-16, and the third is in Lahore from March 21-25.
It could have been a memorable day for Khawaja had he completed his 11th Test century in Pakistan, where he was born in 1986 before his parents emigrated to Australia.
The left hander was caught at forward short leg by Imam-ul-Haq for 97 as he gloved a reverse sweep off left-arm spinner Nauman Ali.
Labuschagne, the current number-one batter in Test rankings, continued where Khawaja and Warner had left off, stroking nine exquisite boundaries in an attractive display.
He and Smith have so far added 68 for third wicket and defied Pakistan’s spin duo of Sajid and Nauman, who took a wicket each in the post lunch session.
Khawaja’s 219-minute knock included 15 boundaries, and he put on 156 for the opening wicket with David Warner, who made an attractive 68.
Warner fell in the eighth over after lunch when he missed a square drive and was bowled by off-spinner Sajid Khan.
Earlier, Khawaja and Warner scored at more than four an over in the morning session, a contrast to the Pakistan first innings which lasted two days and 162 overs.
Pakistan’s seam bowling duo and their three slow bowlers found the Pindi Cricket Stadium pitch as unresponsive as the tourists did on the first two days when only four wickets fell, with little spin and no reverse swing.
Fawad Alam dropped a straightforward chance at gully off a miscued cut when Khawaja was on 22.
Khawaja took full advantage of the reprieve, hitting three successive boundaries before reaching his 15th Test half-century off just 67 balls.
He was also let off by wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan this time when Khawaja, on 62, gloved a chance while trying to reverse-sweep a Nauman delivery.
Leave a Reply