Melbourne, January 14: Pakistan failed to capitalise on their bright start to the dead rubber in Hobart, where Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke led Australia through a wicketless second session to reach 3 for 192 at tea.
Mohammad Aamer’s dismal drop of Ponting before he had scored was threatening to become a match-defining moment as Australia’s captain fought through a scrappy opening and gradually found his fluency.
On the day when he was named Cricinfo’s Player of the Decade, Ponting showed his best and his worst, beginning with a hook off Mohammad Asif that should have been swallowed by Aamer at deep backward square leg. The teenager did not have to move a single step but grassed the chance, which would have meant Ponting had been caught hooking for two ducks in two Tests.
Instead, Ponting went on to post his best score since the first Ashes Test in Cardiff and reached 84 at the break with Clarke on 59. The pair had combined for a 121-run partnership that helped Australia recover from 3 for 71 and reinforced Ponting’s decision to bat first on a good surface under overcast skies that cleared later in the day.
It was anything but easy going for Ponting. His ears have been ringing over his favourite hook and pull shots, which he has struggled to middle in recent times, and today they were pounding in pain when he misjudged a hook off Umar Gul and was hit on the helmet. Several other horizontal-bat shots failed to go where Ponting desired, but he didn’t put the shot away and after reaching his half-century nailed a beautiful pull for four off Gul.
There were also a couple of aerial boundaries off the spinner Danish Kaneria, who battled for any impact and was disappointed to miss out on Ponting’s wicket when Pakistan reviewed a not-out lbw call when the Australian captain had 35. Replays showed the ball pitched just outside leg-stump and it was the only close call in the post-lunch session as Ponting gained confidence and Clarke, who like his skipper has had quiet summer, played some impressive strokes.
It was a frustrating session for Pakistan after they had shown some positive signs before lunch. Mohammad Asif in particular was threatening in the overcast, swing-friendly conditions and he began well with the early wicket of Simon Katich (11), who was given not out but didn’t survive a review of a delivery that pitched in line and straightened.
Four changes to the team helped freshen things up and the debutant wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed, who replaced Kamran Akmal, pouched his first Test catch when Aamer drew an edge behind from Michael Hussey on 6. But sometimes, the more things change the more they stay the same and Pakistan’s fielding remained disappointing.
On top of Aamer’s drop of Ponting, Asif saw another opportunity evade his fielders when Shane Watson top-edged an attempted pull. Khurram Manzoor, another of the new men for this Test, and Imran Farhat ran back from the cordon but managed to collide with each other and miss the ball completely, allowing Watson a reprieve when he was on 11.
Fortunately for Pakistan, that mistake wasn’t crucial and Watson departed soon afterwards for 29 when he cut Gul straight to gully, where Farhat took the catch. But the fielding degenerated again in the second session and misfields galore contributed to Pakistan’s downbeat appearance by the tea break.
——–Agencies