USMAN HAS PAKISTAN WRITHING IN ‘PAINE’
For someone who had long been ridiculed for his failures against spin, Usman Khawaja chose a fifth-day track that never stopped helping spinners to make the most emphatic statement, moving his wife to tears and inspiring his team to stage one of the greatest fightbacks in the history of the game.
Only Michael Atherton had batted longer (645 minutes) than Khawaja (524 minutes) to save a Test match. But Australia still needed to survive 12 overs with just two wickets in hand after Yasir Shah, who had struggled for wickets, suddenly came alive after finally getting the better of Khawaja (141, 302 balls, 11 fours).
With two more wickets in three overs, Yasir (4/114) put Pakistan back in the hunt for a dramatic win only for Australia captain Tim Paine (61 not out, 194 balls, 5 fours) and number 10 Nathan Lyon (5 not out, 34 balls) to thwart the home team in a nerve-wracking last-over finish.
This was Test cricket at its very best, producing final day drama that saw everything – stirring Australian partnerships, balls that missed the outside edge, Pakistani fielders around bat and pad that hounded the umpires in the final overs when both teams were left with no reviews, an error of judgement by Sarfraz Ahmed who failed to make a correct DRS decision, Imam-ul Haq’s dive that fractured his little finger on the left hand ruling him out of the next Test and a stunning catch at forward short leg by Babar Azam.
But more than anything else, this Test will always be remembered for one man’s heroic effort with the bat to prove his doubters wrong and help his team save a match from the most hopeless of positions.
Thanks to Khawaja’s first Test century in Asia, Australia got the platform to survive and secure a draw.
When the players shook hands with Australia — chasing an improbable 462 — on 362/8, it was only one team that was celebrating.
In Test cricket, a hard-fought draw in the fourth innings often feels like a victory.
But when you have to bat 139.5 overs — most overs faced by an Australian team to save a Test — it obviously becomes all the more special.
Khawaja, who came into this series with a best score of 26 in five previous Tests in Asia, gave a masterclass in defensive batting while never missing out on an opportunity to score.
His use of the feet against the spinners and also against the reverse-swing expert Mohammad Abbas and the guts he showed to keep playing those sweep and reverse sweeps will never be forgotten by those who saw him on Thursday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
And Khawaja, who became only the fifth Australian to score a fourth innings hundred in Asia, found the perfect partners in debutant Travis Head (72, 175 balls, 5 fours), who had a first innings duck and needed 12 balls to get off the mark in the second innings, and captain Paine.
Pakistan, who decided against enforcing the follow on after taking a 280-run first innings lead, would rue their missed chances.
Sarfraz brought the best bowler of the fourth day, Abbas, only in the 16th over on Thursday morning.
And Pakistan went wicketless in the morning session.
It was the kind of start Khawaja and Head wanted on the final day to give their team the best chance to save the match. And they eventually did that in the most unforgettable style.