Rain continued to hamper progress at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as Australia, aided by Warner and Steven Smith's hundred raced past Pakistan's total and into the lead. But with rain pouring relentlessly, a result seems near to impossible on Day 5.
Wahab Riaz turned on the heat early in the day to remove Khawaja 3 short of a deserved hundred but Handscomb and Smith continued to flourish and despite the latter falling after his half-century, Smith went on to complete his ton, which may not amount to much in the context of the game but will be a boost to his batting average.
Australia will be looking for some quick runs in the first session tomorrow to put Pakistan in and attempt to make a game out of this. Here are the talking points from the day's play at MCG.
#5 Wahab Riaz's mixed Test
Wahab Riaz is a prominent figure in the Pakistan bowling line-up, especially after the scintillating spell he bowled against Shane Watson in the 2015 World Cup. He struggled to maintain any kind of rhythm yesterday, repeatedly sending down no-balls.
He had David Warner bowled of a pacy reverse swinging delivery only to find that the umpire had called for a no-ball. The disappointment followed but the struggle did not end. He bowled a total of 12 no balls in his 27 overs.
Today, he ran in with more venom and drew an outside edge from a settled Usman Khawaja, who was batting on 97. It was bowled on length and swung away a fraction to graze Khawaja's bat on its way to Sarfraz Ahmed.
#4 Handscomb makes no.5 slot his own
Peter Handscomb has been a great find for Australia this summer. However, initially, his call-up came from a need to drop the players in the squad and to pep up the middle order with some fresh faces. That he had hit a Sheffield double a week before his call-up helped, as did his average above 60 in day-night games.
He already has a hundred to his name after the first Test at Gabba and has also notched a fifty plus score in at least one innings of each of his three Tests thus far. His Test average sits above 80 and he is a fantastic player of spin and pace.
But the man he replaced, Adam Voges, had a pretty high average too. Handscomb needs to ensure his stream of runs continues flowing. With the Indian tour coming up, the middle order batsman will have an even more crucial role to play, being one of the better players of spin in the team.
#3 Time running out for Maddinson
Nic Maddinson's Test career stats thus far look pathetic. But such has been the situation in which he has come out to bat each time that he has rarely had time to settle down and play a proper innings.
He wasn't helped by the fact that he was faced with some world class seamers so far and each of them have managed to produce their best delivery against him. While Maddinson will have ample reasons to tell for his lack of runs, the call remains with the Australian selectors ahead of the third Test and an Indian series.
While his first class record is more than decent, Maddinson has rarely batted at no.6 and may need time to get used to the shift. But with all-rounder Cartwright waiting in the wings and Voges always an experienced option to turn back to, he may find himself out of the Test squad for India.
#2 Yasir and Misbah's questionable field placements
Yasir Shah had a pathetic day at MCG on Day 3 of the Test match. He bowled the most expensive 10 overs at MCG before bringing it down to 6 an over at the end of the day's play yesterday.
Misbah had set a 6-3 leg-side field for the leggie that neither yielded wickets nor contained the constant flow of runs. The field changed to 5-4 every time a boundary was scored, which was far too often, but quickly changed back to the old one.
Yasir improved on his economy today adjusting to the field in place, but it was by no means a helpful field to take wickets. He cleaned up Maddinson to add 2 in the Test to his bag but one can safely say that it remains his worst Test match since debut.
#1 Steven Smith’s fourth hundred of the year
Steven Smith managed his fourth hundred in the year amidst the chaos surrounding the weather and Wahab Riaz's antics, crossing 1000 runs for the year in the process. Smith has been one of the few bright spots in the Australian batting line-up this year, scoring at an average of 67.60.
Smith shifted from no.3 to 4 this year and the move seems to have helped both Khawaja and himself. Khawaja has made the no.3 spot his own with some valuable knocks behind Warner and his partner. Smith, meanwhile, has settled in at 4 comfortably, scoring briskly.
With Australia set to tour India next year, Steven Smith might be the fulcrum around which the Australia batting revolves, given his superior abilities against spinners.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
