At Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia completed their clean sweep series win against Pakistan by beating them convincingly in the 3rd Test Match. Australia in their first innings were bowled out at score of 299 (14 runs short of Pakistan’s first innings score of 313) but with great bowling display by Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon in the second innings who took 4 and 3 wickets respectively Pakistan was restricted to just 115 runs, giving home side just 130 runs to win, was just too easy to be victorious.
Highlights of the Match:
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Both the openers got out on golden duck, thanks to Hazelwood’s accurate line and length. Skipper Shan Masood played some good short before he got out on a score of 35 runs. Babar Azam once again got the start but could not convert it into a big score.
Pakistan’s wicket-keeper batsman Muhammad Rizwan contributed 88 runs with his bat but was unlucky as he could not reach a big hundred. It was Aamer Jamal who showed he can bat also, as he went on to make 82 runs on 97 balls. Pakistan made 313 runs in their first innings.
Australia openers started batting with authority as David Warner playing his last test match was talk of the town. He got out at a score of 34 runs on Salman Agha bowling as Babar Azam took the catch in slip. Usman Khawaja batting very well for 47 runs but couldn’t make 50 and got out. Other main contributors were Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh as they made 60 and 54 runs respectively. Due to great bowling by Aamer Jamal Australian team was restricted to a score of 299 runs (14 runs short of Pak first innings score). Aamer Jamal took 6 wickets by giving 69 runs.
Pakistan in their second innings were very rusty with the bat as the whole team got out in the blink of an eye. They just managed to score 115, setting a target of just 130 runs for the home side to win.
Australian great David Warner for the last time in test cricket in their second innings and how good was he in batting as he managed to score fifty in his last batting effort in his home ground but was very unfortunate to get out before the team’s victory. He was ibw by the spinner Sajid Khan at score of 57 runs just 11 runs before match victory. Australia won the match as their final score was 130/2 and also clean sweep Pakistan this 3-match test series with 3-0.
Man of the Match:
Pakistani Young fast bowler Aamer Jamal for his great batting display in the first innings and then 6 wickets in Australia’s first innings was rewarded with Man of the Match award.
Man of the Series:
In this 3-match test series, for his back to back great performances in bowling, Pat Cummins was named with the Man of the Series Award.