Yasir Shah smacked a maiden Test century yesterday and Babar Azam made 97 as a stubborn Pakistan kept their slim hopes alive in the second Test against Australia, although six first-inning wickets to Mitchell Starc meant the follow on was enforced and the second innings began just as badly as their first.
The visitors resumed on an overcast day teetering at 96-6 in reply to Australia’s first innings of 589-3 declared, built on the back of David Warner’s monumental 335 not out.
Pakistan were all out for 302 on day 2 of the pink-ball Test, 287 runs adrift, with a dogged Yasir the last man to go for 113.
Photo: AFP
Australia immediately enforced the follow on, leaving Pakistan to face a difficult evening session, during which they lost three wickets and had scored only 39 at stumps.
Better known as a spin bowler than a batsmen, Yasir had never gone better than 42 in his previous 36 Tests, making his effort against one of the world’s most fearsome pace attack’s even more remarkable.
In a scintillating spell under lights on Saturday, left-armer Starc snapped up four quick wickets and the omens for Pakistan did not look good.
However, the gloomy conditions at the Adelaide Oval yesterday offered little movement to the bowlers, and Azam and Yasir took advantage.
They put on a disciplined 105-run stand, with Azam looking destined for a third Test century until Starc pounced again, with the 25-year-old edging an attempted drive to Tim Paine behind the stumps on 97.
Azam — who scored a century in the first Test at Brisbane and is rapidly emerging as his country’s top batsmen — left the field dejected but to a standing ovation.
However, he was out in the second innings for only 8.
The very next ball Starc grabbed his sixth, with Shaheen Afridi plumb LBW before Abbas fended off the hat-trick ball.
Starc finished with 6-66 — his 12th five-wicket Test haul.
Mohammad Abbas joined Yasir at the crease and made 29 before he was undone by a Pat Cummins bouncer, caught at gully by Warner.
At the other end, Yasir showed composure to compile his first-ever ton, bringing up the milestone off 192 deliveries, clattering 12 fours and kissing the turf in celebration.
He had a near-miss off the bowling of Marnus Labuschagne on 33. Steve Smith believed he caught him at slip and made a big appeal, but replays showed the ball fell just short of his fingertips.
Yasir was then dropped by Labuschagne off his own bowling on 43.
He was finally out hooking a Cummins delivery to Nathan Lyon.
Additional reporting by staff writer
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB