PERTH, Australia: Australia’s fearsome pace attack combined to leave a rattled Pakistan on 53-4 at tea, facing a heavy defeat in the first Test at Perth Sunday as they chase 450 to win.
After the visitors were dismissed for 271, in reply to the hosts’ 487, Australia declared on day four at 233-5 in their second innings.
Skipper Pat Cummins made the call after opener Usman Khawaja was out for a gutsy 90 on a deteriorating pitch after a 126-run partnership with Mitchell Marsh.
Marsh remained unbeaten on 63 after Pakistan had removed Steve Smith and Travis Head early in the day to give themselves hope, which quickly evaporated.
Facing a daunting run chase, they got off to a horror start with Abdullah Shafique out for two in the first over, nicking an unplayable Mitchell Starc ball to Alex Carey behind the stumps.
Captain Shan Masood, in his first Test in charge, did not last much longer, edging to Carey off Josh Hazlewood for two to leave his team in dire straits at 17-2.
Starc also accounted for Imam-ul-Haq, trapping him lbw for 10, before Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel put up some resistance.
But that crumbled when Azam got an edge to Cummins on 14, with Carey again collecting, leaving Shakeel on 10 and Sarfaraz Ahmed on one at the break.
Australia had resumed at 84-2, with Khawaja on 34 and Smith 43.
With cracks appearing on the pitch, it was hard going at the start, with Pakistan’s pace bowlers beating the bat and causing problems.
Impressive debutant Khurram Shahzad got a breakthrough in the fourth over of the day, trapping Smith lbw for 45 with a ball that nipped back.
Enter the aggressive Travis Head, who stroked a straight drive boundary off the second ball he faced to signal his intent.
But he lived dangerously and a misjudged drive off Aamer Jamal went straight to Haq at cover, out for 14.
Both Marsh and Khawaja survived reviews in the same eventful Jamal over as Pakistan ratcheted up the pressure.
Marsh hit sixes off Jamal then spinner Agha Salman to keep the scoreboard moving, before a huge escape on 23 when Masood dropped a sitter at mid-off.
At the other end, Khawaja kept grinding away to make a 25th Test half-century off 151 balls, accelerating after he reached the mark.
Marsh cracked a thunderous drive off Shaheen Shah Afridi to bring up his second 50 of the match as both men attacked the bowling after lunch.
Khawaja raced to 90 with some audacious boundaries before his luck ran out going for another big shot, caught by Azam off Afridi, which brought about the declaration.
