Oz fast bowlers to relish second Test
– Australia will not be complacent in the second Test against Pakistan, despite the odds being stacked heavily in their favour, insisting day-night cricket is a “completely different beast”.
The home team went one up in the two-Test series with a crushing innings-and-five-run victory inside four days at the Gabba in Brisbane last weekend.
But the match starting tomorrow at Adelaide Oval is a pink-ball affair, which Australian captain Tim Paine, right, said would produce different conditions.
“Certainly there’s going to be times during the game where tactics might be slightly different – day-night,” he said. “We’ll wait and see on the wicket and how the ball handles it, whether it goes soft or if it’ll nip around for the whole game.”
Australia are overwhelming favourites. They have won all five pink-ball Tests they have played
Adelaide
since the concept was launched four years ago, with three of them coming in Adelaide and quicks Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins all excelling under lights.
“Our record there is really good, we know the conditions well, it’ll be a bit of a different game [to Brisbane], I think,” Cummins told cricket.com.au. “A bit of grass on the wicket, the pink ball zipping around at night – it’s a fast-bowler’s dream.”
Add into the mix that Pakistan have now lost 13 consecutive Tests in Australia and Paine’s men will be disappointed if they do not wrap up the series 2-0.
They are expected to stick with the same XI from Brisbane, although fast bowler James Pattinson is in the squad and available again after being suspended from the Gabba for player abuse in a domestic match.
Pakistan took some positives from a gutsy second-innings 335 in Brisbane, where Babar Azam scored a century and wicketkeeper Muhammad Rizwan 95.
Pakistan took a gamble at the Gabba by leaving out experienced paceman Mohammad Abbas, giving exciting Naseem Shah, 16, a debut and he may be drafted back in for Adelaide, with Imran Khan appearing to be the likely fall guy. –