AUS vs PAK: The Australian team exhibited a clinical performance in the First Test match against Pakistan in Perth. Pat Cummins and Co. registered a massive 360-run win to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
David Warner, who received a lot of backlash from Mitchell Johnson for being featured in the playing XI, produced a sensational knock in the first innings and laid a strong foundation for the Australian team.
His 164-run knock helped Australia post a mammoth total of 487 runs in the first innings. Mitchell Marsh also played a handy knock of 90 off 107, while there were crucial contributions from the likes of Khawaja (41), Head (40), and Carey (34), to name a few.
In reply, Pakistan managed to score 271 with Imam Ul Haq top-scoring for 62 off 199. Warner got out for naught in his second innings but his partner Usman Khawaja came up with solid 90 runs off 190 deliveries. Mitchell Marsh, once again, played a crucial knock of 63 off 68 before Australia declared at 233 for 5.
Australia Beat Pakistan By 360 in 1st Test
Pakistan were set a target of 450 runs to win the Test match. The batting unit struggled badly as they were hunted down for just 89 runs. Both Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood returned with three wickets each, while Nathan Lyon ended up picking five wickets in the Test match.
Australia’s current best Test batter, Steve Smith returned with scores of 31 and 45 in the two innings, however, he received the largest applause from the crowd when he picked a piece of paper from the ground during the Test match.
A video shared by 7 Cricket has been going viral on the internet in which the Australian players are trying to pick a piece of paper. Interestingly, Marnus Labuschagne first runs to gather the paper before Nathan Lyon joins him but both of them fails to pick it up. Usman Khawaja then enters the frame but he too couldn’t get hold of it. Eventually, Steve Smith picks it up and puts it in his pocket, thus receiving a wide range of applause from the crowd.
You can watch the video here
The second Test match between Australia and Pakistan is scheduled to be played from 26th to 30th December 2023 at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Australia has announced the 13-man squad for the 2nd Test i.e., the Boxing Day Test while Pakistan is yet to announce the team for the same.
Read More: Australia Announce 13-man Squad for the Boxing Day Test
