Pakistan spinners trouble Australia

Yasir Shah, the debutant legspinner, and Zulfiqar Babar, the left-arm spinner, helped Pakistan take a giant leap towards securing 1-0 lead in the two-Test series against Australia in Dubai on Saturday (October 25).

Chasing an imposing 438, Australia was reduced to 59 for 4 after a dramatic final session on the fourth day. Chris Rogers (23 not out) and Steve Smith (3 not out) battled hard to play out 20 minutes against Shah and Babar after the openers started solidly, putting on 44 in 14.3 overs.

David Warner was the first to go, when he was surprised by Babar's guile. He missed the line of a delivery that went on with the arm as Sarfraz Ahmed whipped the bails off to break the resistance. Four balls later, Alex Doolan played down the wrong line as a delivery that drifted back in from around the stumps trapped him plumb in front of the stumps.

Two overs later, it was Shah's turn to get onto the scoreboard as a prod from Michael Clarke resulted in the ball thudding into the pad and was adjudged lbw.

At 44 for 3, Australia opted for safety by sending Nathan Lyon as nightwatchman. It was a move that didn't work as Lyon was trapped lbw.

That Pakistan got into a position from where it could dictate terms was courtesy Younis Khan and Ahmed Shehzad, who hit masterful centuries. Younis became the fourth Pakistan batsman to score a century in each innings of a Test match.

His 26th Test century, an unbeaten 103, helped Pakistan declare at 286 for 2. Along the way, Younis also became the leading centurion for Pakistan in Test history, overtaking Inzamam-ul-Haq's record of 25 tons.

For large parts of Pakistan's second innings, Younis played second fiddle to Shehzad, who made 131. The two shared a second-wicket stand of 168.

With the 151-run lead and a solid start courtesy Shehzad and Azhar Ali, who added 70, Australia conceded the advantage to Pakistan as early as the first session on the penultimate day. The bowlers toiled hard in the heat and humidity. Steve O'Keefe, the debutant left-arm spinner, picked up both Pakistan wickets to fall in the second innings.

Resuming after lunch at 116 for 1, Shehzad and Younis cut loose on a flat pitch. Shehzad smashed a four and a six off O'Keefe, and then hit Mitchell Marsh twice to the ropes to enter the 90s. He soon reached the three-figure mark, the second Test hundred of his career, by driving Peter Siddle towards long-on. In all, Shehzad had ten fours and four sixes during his 228-ball knock.

In the morning, Australia had looked to stop the flow of runs and had a good chance of breaking through early, but Brad Haddin missed a low catch off O'Keefe when Shehzad edged one on to the pads, which popped out of wicketkeeper's hands. But O'Keefe got his reward when he induced an edge off Azhar Ali straight into the hands of Haddin, with the score at 71. Ali made 30. (ICC)

Pakistan: 454 all out in 145 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 109, Younis Khan 106, Asad Shafiq 89, Misbah-ul-Haq 69, Azhar Ali 53, Mitchell Johnson 3-39, Steve O'Keefe 2-107, Nathon Lyon 2-148) and 286-2 dec in 78 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 131, Younis Khan 103 n.o, Azhar Ali 30, Steve O'Keefe 2-112)

Australia: 303 all out in 103.1 overs (David Warner 133, Chris Rogers 38, Mitchell Johnson 37, Yasir Shah 3-66, Rahat Ali 2-55, Zulfiqar Babar 2-81) and 59-4 in 23 overs (David Warner 29, Chris Rogers 23 n.o, Yasir Shah 2-8, Zulfiqar Babar 2-22).