Australia clinch series against Pakistan

LAHORE: There was no grandstand finish this time. The heroic resistance of the National Stadium never came at the Gaddafi Stadium for Pakistan. Once Australia removed captain Babar Azam after tea, the writing was on the wall for the hosts.

Nearly quarter of a century from when they last toured Pakistan, Australia will return home after a Test series here with the same result — a 1-0 victory — and the Benaud-Qadir Trophy to show for after they completed a 115-run triumph in the series-deciding third Test on Friday.

Chasing 351 to win, Pakistan folded for just 235 in just about an hour after tea with Nathan Lyon being the wrecker-in-chief with 5-83 and captain Pat Cummins grabbing 3-23. It was Cummins’ bold declaration on Thursday that set up the Aussies for the victory and he was naturally overjoyed with how things panned out for his side.

They had been denied a victory in the second Test in Karachi by Pakistan’s brave rearguard action which saw Babar score 196 after a drab draw in the opening game in Rawalpindi. Pakistan were in the ascendancy at the start of the final day here, needing 278 more runs to win with all their wickets intact but Australia got the reward for their positive intent throughout the series.

“Winning overseas just does not happen very often,” he told an online news conference at the end of the match. “It has been a real toil for the last 25-30 days really. And to come away with a series is hugely satisfying.”

Australia arrived on their first tour of Pakistan since 1998 on



the back of a 4-0 Ashes triumph over England at home but Cummins, who became the first Australian captain since Michael Clarke in 2011 to claim a series victory in Asia, said that winning here will build the team’s confidence.

AUSTRALIA (1st Innings) 391 (U. Khawaja 91, C. Green 79, A. Carey 67, S. Smith 59; Naseem Shah 4-58, Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-79)

PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 268 (Abdullah Shafique 81, Azhar Ali 78, Babar Azam 67; P. Cummins 5-56, M. Starc 4-33)

AUSTRALIA (2nd Innings) 227-3 decl (U. Khawaja 104 not out)

PAKISTAN (2nd Innings, overnight 73-0): Abdullah Shafique c Carey b Green 27 Imam-ul-Haq c Labuschagne b Lyon 70 Azhar Ali c Smith b Lyon 17 Babar Azam c Smith b Lyon 55 Fawad Alam lbw b Cummins 11 Mohammad Rizwan lbw b Cummins 0 Sajid Khan c Khawaja b Starc 21 Nauman Ali not out 1 Hasan Ali b Lyon 13 Shaheen Shah Afridi c Swepson b Lyon 5 Naseem Shah b Cummins 1 EXTRAS (B-8, LB-4, NB-1, W-1) 14 TOTAL (all out, 92.1 overs) 235

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-77 (Shafique), 2-105 (Azhar), 3-142 (Haq), 4-165 (Alam), 5-167 (Rizwan), 6-213 (Azam), 7-213 (Sajid), 8-226 (Hasan), 9-232 (Shaheen) BOWLING: Starc 17-6-53-1; Cummins 15.1-6-23-3; Lyon 37-8-83-5; Swepson 10-0-36-0; Green 11-4-18-1 (1nb, 1w); Labuschagne 2-0-10-0