Lyon spins Australia to an innings win
Pakistan suffer 14th successive Test defeat Down Under
SPIN king Nathan Lyon snared five wickets, including dangerous half-century makers Shan Masood and Asad Shafiq, as Australia wore down a stubborn Pakistan to clinch the second Test and wrap up the series 2-0 on Monday.
Pakistan resumed day four of the day-night match on a precarious 39 for three with Masood not out 14 and Shafiq on eight after being bowled out for 302 in their first innings and forced to follow on.
It followed Australia’s mammoth 589 for three declared, built around David Warner’s exceptional 335 not out – the 10th highest Test score of all time.
Needing another 248 to force Australia to bat again and avoid a second successive innings defeat, they had a decent crack but were eventually all out for 239 with the home team claiming victory by an innings and 48 runs. It was Australia’s sixth consecutive win in a pink ball Test – four of them at Adelaide – with every day-night Test played so far since the concept was introduced in 2015 producing a result.
“Really happy. Barring few slip-ups in the field yesterday, we played excellent cricket in the last two matches,” said Australia captain Tim Paine.
“David and Marnus (Labuschagne) have been unbelievably good. We all witnessed a special knock from
David Warner. It is among the top one or two innings ever by an Australian.”
Lyon was Australia’s saviour, finishing with 5-69 on a lifeless pitch that offered little for the home side’s fast bowlers, who were made to toil.
It was his 16th five-wicket haul and his first against Pakistan, who have lost all four Tests they have played this year after two defeats to South Africa in January.
Defeat continued Pakistan’s appalling record in Australia, where they have now crashed in 14 consecutive Tests.
“I would like to congratulate
Australia and especially David Warner,” said Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali. “We have been beaten by a better team. We will take some positives from here. As a bowling unit, we need to control the scoring rate.”
At least they offered some resistance on Monday, with Masood playing some glorious strokes as he assumed a leadership role after Babar Azam and captain Azhar Ali fell cheaply on Sunday evening.