Australian pacer Mitchell Starc was at his level best on Day 3 of the ongoing Lahore Test against Pakistan. The left-armer ripped apart Pakistan’s middle-order, taking a sensational four-wicket haul in the first innings.
Starc dismissed the likes of Babar Azam (67), Fawad Alam (13), Mohammad Rizwan (1) before removing Naseem Shah (0) to bundle out Pakistan for 268 in reply to Australia’s 391. Starc’s wicket of Rizwan, however, grabbed the maximum eyeballs as the lanky pacer displayed top-quality skills to get rid of Pakistan’s star wicketkeeper-batter.
It all happened on the second delivery of the 110th over of Pakistan’s first innings when Starc came round the wicket and bowled an absolute corker to remove Rizwan. The left-armer pitched the red-cherry at a good length, which reverse-swung and brought Rizwan forward before getting straightened past the outside edge to clip the top of the off-stump.
Here is the video:
Starc with a thunderbolt. Rizwan heads back. #BoysReadyHain l #PAKvAUS pic.twitter.com/4QIZ7ss83e
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) March 23, 2022
Apart from Starc, it was captain Pat Cummins who led the attack and produced one of the finest performances with the ball. The right-armer bagged a brilliant five-wicket haul and helped his team take the lead of 123 runs after packing the hosts for 268.
Not to mention that at one stage, the home team was looking comfortable with 248/3, but a dramatic turnaround saw them losing their last seven wickets for just 20 runs. Australian openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner then survived three overs to increase their team’s lead by 11 more runs before the officials called stumps on Day 3.
“Thought we bowled really well the first two sessions, just didn’t get the rewards. Message was to hang in there. Things sped up after we got the breakthrough. This wicket is not a lot of bounce, so we looked to hit that 7-8 metre length. It’s all a blur the last couple of hours. Unlike the last couple of games, we’ve given ourselves a really good opportunity. It’s awesome as a captain, so many options to throw the ball to,” said Cummins after the end of the day’s play.
