Summary He will score a double hundred, this pitch will suit him, Waqar said about Younis ahead of innings
SYDNEY: (Zainab Abbas) - Before the start of the test match Younis Khan was struggling to find form and apart from a streaky 65 at Brisbane, Younis failed to make any impact. Questions were asked whether it was the end of Younis Khan much like in the series in England before the Oval Test. But the records were there for the taking for a champion like Younis Khan. Younis became the first batsman in the history of cricket to have scored a century in all 11 Test hosting nations.
When Younis came in to bat, Pakistan were struggling at 6 for 2. Younis took his usual guard and showed more assertiveness in his defence and worked through his pads to rotate the strike. Not for the first time, Younis shared a 146-run stand with Azhar Ali, who has been the backbone of the batting this series. He drove beautifully through the cover to anything pitched slightly outside off-stump.
Pakistani legend Waqar Younis took a call on Younis the day before and said “He will score a double hundred, this pitch will suit him”. Younis, only shy of 64 runs to prove that call to be a right one, had a flawless knock except for the running between the wickets where Australia missed out on two run-out chances. The luck for the two ran out finally as poor running cost Azhar his wicket.
Featuring in the record books, Younis now needs only two runs to become the highest scoring batsman at the SCG after Ijaz Ahmad. The ability to spend time in the middle that allows others to grow around him has always been a special feature of Younis Khan’s career. While Younis carried the bat, others failed around him. Misbah ul-Haq struggled to make the ends meet and continued with his poor form in the series and eventually holed one up to deep mid-wicket reminiscent of his dismissal at the quarter-final between Australia and Pakistan in the 2015 World Cup. Misbah, reputed to play spin well, looked uncomfortable from the first ball and the Australians capitalised on his lack of form with the bat as Lyon kept bowling a tight line and enabled the pressure to build.
Asad Shafiq got out, thanks to a brilliant catch in the slips off the bowling of O Keefe where he tried to defend and inside-edged one onto the pads with Smith taking a difficult one in the slips. Mohammad Amir also tried to slog one over long off and got caught by Warner. The Australians bowled to a plan and Amir was set up nicely by Lyon who bowled with a lot of control.
Sarfraz, not for the first time, edged one straight to gully as Starc set him up bowling wide outside the off-stump. It was almost like the Pakistani team after a long summer down under had resigned to their fate. The series is coming to an end and with that the Pakistani team’s fight as well.
