DUBAI: Match-winning Pakistan spinner Yasir Shah has sent a warning to Australia’s batsmen that he is targeting 20 wickets and a win in the two-match Test series starting in Dubai on Sunday.
The 32-year-old has been Pakistan’s main spin weapon since making his Test debut against Australia at the same venue four years ago.
He and left-armer Zulfiqar Babar took 26 wickets between them to rout Australia 2-0.
Yasir again holds the key for Pakistan in the two-match series, with the second in Abu Dhabi from October 16.
“I have a target of 20 wickets,” Yasir told AFP. “I know how important it will be to take wickets so that remains my target and for the team to win the series which is very important.”
Yasir has grown in stature and wickets with each series. He took 24 wickets in three Tests in a series win over Sri Lanka a year later.
His 10 wickets at Lord’s and five at The Oval formed the basis of Pakistan’s 1-1 series draw in England two years ago before he took 25 in a 2-1 win in the West Indies in 2017 — Pakistan’s first series win in the Caribbean.
Yasir said Australia will miss the guile of banned duo Steven Smith and David Warner, who are each banned for a year for their part in a ball-tampering row in South Africa earlier this year.
“No doubt, Smith and Warner are two world-class players and Australia will miss them,” said Yasir. “(They) know the art of staying at the wicket so that will be missed by Australia.
“But we can’t take any team lightly. They have a few good players and a few of them I have played with in the Big Bash (Australia’s Twenty20 league) so I know their strong and weak points.
“You can’t say they are weak, maybe inexperienced. They’re always a strong side. That series (in 2014) was my first and so I’m going to try to improve on that.”
Yasir, who played for Brisbane Heat last year, said he has improved his googly because it was “a bit weak.”
“I’ve been working on that. I think I’m 70-80 percent there with the googly and that’s going to come in handy here.”
He said he was constantly analizing his bowling and always on the lookout for new techniques.
“I do look over those videos from YouTube quite a bit,” he said. “I look at how I went in those matches, analizing how it has gone and try to replicate my good deliveries.”
Pakistan’s Yasir targets 20 Australian scalps, series win
Pakistan’s Yasir targets 20 Australian scalps, series win
Barcelona pounces on Real Madrid stumble and regains lead of La Liga with a 3-0 win over Levante
- Barcelona moved one point ahead of Madrid, which had won eight in a row in the league before losing to Osasuna
MADRID: Barcelona took advantage of Real Madrid’s stumble and regained the Spanish league lead with a comfortable 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Levante on Sunday.
Marc Bernal, Frenkie de Jong and Fermín López scored a goal each as Barcelona ended a two-game losing streak to get back in front of rival Madrid, which lost 2-1 at Osasuna on Saturday.
Barcelona moved one point ahead of Madrid, which had won eight in a row in the league before losing to Osasuna.
Barcelona was coming off a 2-1 loss to Girona in the league and a 4-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals.
“It was important to win and earn three points again,” Barcelona defender João Cancelo said. “Soccer gives you these opportunities to rebound and that’s what we did today, playing well again after two bad games.”
Barcelona had earned a clean sheet only once in its previous six games in all competitions.
Good start for Barcelona
Bernal scored from close range four minutes into the match at the Camp Nou Stadium. The 18-year-old Bernal had scored his first goal with the first team two rounds ago in a win over Mallorca.
“They had an early chance but my goal helped us settle and gain some confidence,” Bernal said.
De Jong added to the lead from inside the area in the 32nd and López sealed the victory with a beautiful long-range shot in the 81st, with the ball ricocheting off the post before going into the net.
Levante’s Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan kept Barcelona from adding the fourth with a pair of outstanding saves in a row in the final minutes, first off a header by Raphinha and then off a point-blank strike from López on the rebound.
It was the fourth straight defeat for Levante, which sits in 19th place. It is one point ahead of last-place Oviedo, which has a game in hand.
Levante has only one victory in its last eight matches.
Pedri entered the match in the 66th to make his return to action after an injury layoff.
Other results
Sevilla won 1-0 at 10-man Getafe for its second win in its last 10 matches in all competitions.
Djibril Sow scored a 64th-minute winner for the visitors. Getafe played a man down from the 26th after a straight red card for Djene Dakonam.
The result left Sevilla in 11th place, immediately above Getafe.
Third-place Villarreal, Barcelona’s next league opponent, can restore a three-point gap to fourth-place Atletico Madrid if it beats Valencia at home later Sunday. Atletico beat Espanyol 4-2 at home on Saturday.
