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Aus vs Pak 2nd Test 2019: Post-Match 5 Talking Points

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Aus vs pak 2nd test 2019 Post-Match 5 Talking Points

It was the last ball of the over. No. 11 batsman Muhammad Musa was on strike. He whacked it straight towards mid-on. For some reason, Mohammad Abbas saw a possibility of a single there and by the time he realized his mistake, the damage was done by Pat Cummins by doing a run-out. And no, it wasn’t the last ball of the ODI or the T20 when they needed to run at all costs. This was a test match which they were trying to save it or realistically stretch it. That sums up the tour for Pakistan. Skills wise they were a distant second. Neither Pakistan applied themselves enough to compete nor they showed any strong sign of their glorious past. Let us see the post-match 5 main talking points or highlights from Australia vs Pakistan 2nd Test played from 29 November to 2 December 2019.

David Warner show:

It’s a match which will be remembered for one man! David Andrew Warner!

Warner became the first-ever batsman to score a triple century in the land of Sir Don Bradman.

Do you remember the Warner who was a big failure against Broad & company just a few months back in England? Well, it seems he was some other player. Looking at such a contrasting comeback, anyone would say that.

He has almost erased the Ashes failures form the minds of his fans and has rewritten a new success story.

The daddy knocks both in the first Test and the second Test of the series sums up David Warner, the super-competent player for you.

 

While he has his limitations against moving ball, there are not many batsmen who can match his strokeplay in these true surfaces. Whether it’s riding on the bounce or cutting or pulling, these are the conditions he thrives in.

But triple centuries require much more than mere strokeplay. The surface was a batting beauty no doubt, but which triple hundred was scored on a green top or turner?

It requires immense concentration, energy, and fitness to run your 300th run as if it is your first run. He ticked every box to reach this level. In various interviews, Warner always maintained that Sehwag was always his inspiration to play test cricket. Quite fittingly he joined the 300-club where you find Sehwag’s name twice.

Personal milestones < Team win:

As Warner crossed the 300-mark and more importantly 334-mark which has been an iconic figure in Australian cricket, the stage was set for him to eye Brian Lara’s 15-year-old record. But Tim Paine showing a typical Australian attitude completely ignored the importance of historical milestone which put a full stop on Warner’s innings at 335.

It’s easy to criticize in hindsight as the Test match finished in 4 days but with 60 championship points at stake and uncertainty of the weather, it made sense to give themselves the best chance to win a match rather than looking to complete the personal milestone.

David vs Goliath:

Pakistan came up with 5 pacers on this tour and in only two matches they tried all 5 but I don’t think they want to look back at those figures.

In the series, they could manage only 7 wickets with an average of 77 and a strike rate of 134.5. And if you add Yasir Shah’s figures (4/402) in it, the situation looks worse.

While batting showed some signs of improvement as test series progressed but with this kind of bowling attack they will struggle to compete. The only positive for Pakistan in the tour has been the growth of Babar Azam as a Test batsman. With some elegant strokeplay, he made lots of new fans in Australia.

Yasir Shah managed to heal his bowling wounds with a gutsy hundred and showed a way to their top-order. Shan Masood, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Rizwan looked good in patches but failed to deliver the promise.

Overall there was hardly a session when Pakistan put Australia under pressure. The 14th consecutive loss in the country reflects their misery.

Starc difference & finally some glory for Garry:

While the jury is still out whether the pink ball replicates red ball enough or not. But one player who cherished it more than anyone is Mitchell Starc. A terrific display of seam bowling on the 2nd day evening pushed Pakistan totally on the back-foot from where they needed more than a miracle to escape.

If the first innings was about Starc, then in the 2nd innings Nathan Lyon finally managed to improve his numbers against Pakistan. In his 9th test against this Asian side, this was the first time he claimed a 5-for. Also, it was the first 5-for for him with a pink ball.

That’s one way to stop Steve Smith:

Some tried to bore him with wide outside offline, some tried his luck with the packed leg-side field but Misbah & boys came up with the worst way to restrict him i.e. bore him in the pavilion.

In the first match at Gabba, he came in when Australia’s score was 351 runs and here at Adelaide when the scoreboard showed 369 runs, joining Warner in the middle. Certainly, there wasn’t enough time to play in his own way and ended up with scores of 4 and 36 respectively.  This is the first time ever in his career that he couldn’t manage a 50+ score in a test series.

Alright, so those were the post-match 5 talking points from Australia vs Pakistan 2nd Test played in December 2019. It was a great 2-match Test series for Australia, as they won it 2-0 and significantly reduced the ICC World Test Championship points gap between them and the table-toppers India. Both teams have played 7 matches as part of the championship so far. India have 360 points and Australia is second on the table with 176 points.

Let us know your thoughts about the Australia-Pakistan 2nd Test in the comments section below.

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