Australia stumbling to another thrashing
Australia coach and selector Darren Lehmann says his side need to “take stock” of their performances in the second Test against Pakistan.
No.2-ranked Australia appear headed for a massive loss as Pakistan prepare to clinch a two-nil series sweep on Monday’s final day of play.
Set a gigantic target of 603 to win the second Test on a pitch which assists the spinners, Australia will resume on Monday on 4-143.
Lehmann says Australia won’t brush aside the disappointments of their tour and simply move on.
“You’ve got to take stock of where you are,” Lehmann said.
Lehmann said Australia had been totally outplayed again, following their 221-run loss in the first Test in Dubai.
“We’ve got to get to the drawing board and make it right,” he said.
“In (Australia’s) last six Test matches (in the subcontinent), and hopefully we can get out of jail (on Monday), but we certainly haven’t played well enough.”
A defeat on Monday would mean a 2-0 loss in the United Arab Emirates after going down 4-0 away to India in 2013.
Lehmann said it would be a great achievement if youngsters such as Steve Smith (38 not out) and Mitchell Marsh (26 not out) were able to help Australia force a draw.
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“But our top order batting, basically the top six, haven’t made enough runs,” he said.
“It would have been nice to win one of the tosses and see how they would have performed early on in the game and see the shoe on the other foot.
“We certainly haven’t produced the goods in this series.
“I don’t think we’ve won a session in this Test match and maybe only dare I say two in the last Test match.
“So we’ve been totally outplayed.”
Wicketkeeper/batsman Brad Haddin (shoulder) and pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson are expected to bat on Monday despite injuries.
Lehmann played down Johnson’s hip problem.
“He just got some treatment and then they declared,” Lehmann said.
“But he’ll be fine.”
Australia’s record of one win in 15 Tests in Asia since Shane Warne’s 2007 retirement is set to become even worse after another embarrassing day in Abu Dhabi.
Australia lost the early wickets of Chris Rogers (two), Glenn Maxwell (four) and Michael Clarke (five) to the left-arm spin of Zulfiqar Babar.
Australia’s master batsman Clarke has made only 57 runs at 14.25 series.
David Warner’s attempted slog sweep went straight up in the air on 58 at 4-101, but the left-hander has been a star in this series with 239 runs at 59.75.
Earlier, Pakistan’s skipper Misbah-ul-Haq smashed a record-equalling 56-ball century as he twisted the knife into Australia’s bleeding torso.
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Pakistan declared after lunch at 3-293 in their second innings following centuries from Misbah (101 not out) and Azhar Ali (100 not out).
Sixth-ranked Pakistan can jump three places if they beat second-ranked Australia two-nil.
FASTEST TEST CENTURIES
* Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq 56 balls v Australia, Abu Dhabi, 2014
* West Indies’ Viv Richards 56 balls v England, St John’s, 1986
* Australia’s Adam Gilchrist 57 balls v England, Perth 2006
MOST RUNS IN A TWO-TEST SERIES AGAINST AUSTRALIA
* 468 by Pakistan’s Younis Khan (average of 156) in UAE in 2014
* 403 by India’s Sachin Tendulkar (av 134.33) in India in 2010
AUSTRALIA CAPTAIN MICHAEL CLARKE IN 2014
* 294 runs at an average of 29.40 in six Tests.
SCOREBOARD
Pakistan 1st innings 6(dec)-570
Australia 1st innings 261
Pakistan 2nd Innings Mins Balls 4s 6s
A SHEHZAD b Johnson 14 4 6 2 1
M HAFEEZ c Starc b Johnson 3 13 6 0 0
A ALI not out 100 261 174 6 0
Y KHAN lbw Smith 46 175 122 3 0
M UL-HAQ not out 101 75 57 11 5
Sundries (23b 4lb 1w 1nb) 29
Three wickets (dec) for 293
Fall: 14 (Shehzad), 21 (Hafeez), 152 (Y Khan).
Bowling: M Johnson 7-1-45-2, N Lyon 18-3-48-0, M Starc 11.4-2-56-0 (1w), P Siddle 14-4-48-0 (1nb), S Smith 6-0-54-1, M Marsh 4-1-15-0.
Batting time: 266 mins. Overs: 60.4.
Australia 2nd Innings Mins Balls 4s 6s
C ROGERS c Shafiq b Babar 2 33 27 0 0
D WARNER c Shah b Hafeez 58 110 75 6 0
G MAXWELL lbw Babar 4 12 12 0 0
M CLARKE b Babar 5 10 10 0 0
S SMITH not out 38 129 108 6 0
M MARSH not out 26 76 57 4 0
Sundries (4b 1nb 5pen) 10
Four wickets for 143
Fall: 19 (Rogers), 31 (Maxwell), 43 (Clarke), 101 (Warner).
Bowling: R Ali 5-4-1-0, I Khan 5-1-13-0, M Hafeez 12-1-33-1, Z Babar 17-1-65-3, Y Shah 8-0-21-0 (1nb), A Ali 1-0-1-0.
Batting time: 189 mins. Overs: 48.
Umpires: Nigel Llong (ENG), Richard Kettleborough (ENG).
Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI).
Third Umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA).
