Visitors end the day at 70/2 in mammoth chase of 490 after hosts declared second innings at 202/5.

By Abdullah Ansari (17th December, 2016)

Toss: Australia won the toss, Steve Smith opted to bat first.

Teams

Australia: MT Renshaw, DA Warner, UT Khawaja, SPD Smith (c), PSP Handscomb, NJ Maddinson, MS Wade (wk), MA Starc, JR Hazlewood, NM Lyon, JM Bird.

Pakistan: Sami Aslam, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Amir, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali.

Pakistan began the day in a horrible position but Sarfraz and Amir fought out the first few overs as they combined to put on a fifty partnership. It was Bird who broke through as Amir was given caught behind via a smart review from Smith for 21. Sarfraz got to a fighting fifty and then got a life as Maddinson grassed a chance in the deep. The innings came to an end as Rahat struggled between the wickets, getting run out with Sarfraz stranded on 59*. Australia opted to bat again rather than enforce the follow-on despite taking a 287 run lead.

Australia's innings got off to a flier as Warner took Amir for 12 off the first over, but the pacer had the last laugh in his next over as he hurried warner into a pull which was caught at mid-on. Rahat got reward for a good opening spell as well as he had Renshaw nicking to Younis in the slips with a good delivery that moved away from the batsman. Misbah opted to take a review for caught behind against Smith on the next delivery but the ball had grazed the pad on the way through to the keeper. Amir continued testing the batsmen from the other end but Pakistan couldn't make the breakthrough as Australia went to Tea at 40/2.

Pakistan took another review off Wahab's bowling for LBW against Smith but it was just in the margin for umpires call. Smith took the attack the the Pakistan bowlers as Australia began to bat in an aggressive manner, hitting fours on a regular basis. Smith got to his fifty off just 59 balls while Khawaja played some serence shots from the other end. Smith's innings finally came to an end as he tried to loft Yasir for a big shot and gave a simple catch to Rahat at long-on. Khawaja reached a 92-ball fifty, yet another good knock in Australia as Pakistan resorted to the part-time leg-spin of Azhar Ali. A few overs later, Khawaja fell for 74 as he tried to pull one from Rahat and lobbed it towards the mid-on region where Misbah took a tumbling catch. Handscomb was aggressive from the start while Maddinson hit one four before he fell to a Wahab bouncer, giving a catch to Babar at long leg. Australia finished the session at 202/5 and declared during the interval, setting Pakistan a target of 490 runs in the fourth innings.

Pakistan began their second innings in a more positive manner as Azhar and Sami looked to rotate the strike more often and put the bad balls away. They were fairly untroubled for the first few overs as 31 runs were scored in the first 9 overs. However, Australia strung together a slew of maidens, six in a row at one point as Sami became the first to fall, edging Starc to Renshaw at slip for 15. The batsmen finally managed to rotate the strike a little but Hazlewood in particular was difficult to get away, bowling an immaculate line. Lyon came on to bowl and troubled Babar straight away, with Australia taking a review for a catch down the leg-side - but there was no nick. Lyon got some spin and bounce out of the rough against Babar and that soon resulted in a wicket as one that went straight on took the edge, with Smith taking a sharp catch at slip. Hazlewood was still very tough to get away with Younis failing to get off the mark but Azhar seemed to gain confidence towards the end of the day, taking Bird for three fours in an over and finishing on 41* as Pakistan ended the day at 70/2, needing another 420 runs to win.

Summary: A better show put up by the Pakistan batsmen in the second innings but Australia are still well in control. With showers forecasted for Day 4, Pakistan will hope for the day to be rained out and then bat out Day 5 - the chances of that happening are very slim. Sarfraz showed fight at the start of the day but when Australia opted to bat again, it was tough for the Pakistan bowlers despite bowling good opening spells. The batsmen went on the attack and the bowlers were short of ideas. Australia's declaration at Dinner meant that Pakistan would have to pull-off an improbable world-record chase to win the match. Azhar Ali was solid while Younis Khan survived, though he's still on a pair. Though a loss is still the most likely outcome, it was still heartening to see the batsmen show a little more fight.

Fall of wickets:

9-121 (Mohammad Amir, 50.4 ov)
10-142 (Rahat Ali, 54.6 ov)

1-12 (Warner, 2.2 ov)
2-24 (Renshaw, 5.4 ov)
3-135 (Smith, 29.4 ov),
4-188 (Khawaja, 36.5 ov)
5-199 (Maddinson, 37.5 ov)

1-31 (Sami Aslam, 11.3 ov)
2-54 (Babar Azam, 26.2 ov)

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