He was given flawless company by the tail as Mohammad Amir (48), Wahab Riaz (30) and Yasir Shah (33) all chipped in with some pivotal runs to take the visitors so very close to the finishing line.
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The Australians were given the additional time to try and complete victory with only three wickets to go but events did not go to plan for the hosts as a gutsy Asad Shafiq brought up an unbeaten century alongside cavalier tailender Wahab Riaz as Pakistan threatened an unthinkable world record chase of 490.
Smith wanted to ensure he had enough runs to defend, and took a conservative approach earlier on day three when he decided not to enforce the follow-on after Pakistan’s last two wickets fell in the first session for the addition of 45 runs to the overnight total of 97 for eight.
“Once I got in, once I was hitting well, two or three partnerships gave us belief we could do it”, Shafiq said.
A crowd of 20,915 for the third day of the Gabba day/night test has smashed the record for attendance at a non-Ashes Test at the venue. “Yasir Shah bowled 40-odd overs, took a couple of wickets, bowled better than that, but he’s started exactly the same way to the left handers in the second innings”, said Warne in the commentary box, as quoted by Cricket Australia.
“I’d be happier if we’d won the match – we nearly chased it down”, said Shafiq.
Pakistan 450 vs Australia at Brisbane in 2016.
Azhar was soon back on his feet and sharing a joke with umpire Ian Gould and teammate Younis Khan. Before they reached fifty, the Green Shirts lost their four important wickets along with their captain Misbah ul Haq.
Mickey Arthur believes Pakistan were denied a level playing field in their first Test against Australia, with the coach saying he was surprised former employers Cricket Australia (CA) opted for a pink-ball clash in Brisbane. “But I thought our bowlers stuck at it all day, we bowled a lot of overs, our quicks just kept coming back”. I’m happy and proud the way we played in the fourth innings. First he tried to deposit Yasir into the Gabba stands only for Amir to drop a swirling chance, then flayed at Wahab to end an equal parts fine and fortunate innings.
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Bowling second innings: Australia: Mitchell Starc 38-10-119-4; Josh Hazalewood 42-11-99-0; Jackson Bird 33-3-110-3; Nathan Lyon 29-3-108-2; Nic Maddinson 3-0-9-0.
