The Cummins three-fer swings the MCG Test back towards Australia » Today Latest Stories

Pat Cummins bowled the delivery of the day – and perhaps the Test – to clean up Babar Azam and picked two more wickets to put Australia ahead at the end of a thrilling second day in Melbourne. Pakistan did a lot of the right things for two-thirds of the day, before losing five wickets in the final session.

Bright sunshine and challenging batting conditions greeted both teams on Wednesday, with Pakistan’s pacers making rapid progress after being outplayed by Marnus Labuschagne on day one. Labuschagne reached his half-century, but was dismissed by the impressive Aamir Jamal, who finished as the highest-placed player. Pakistani bowlers pick with three wickets. Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali and Mir Hamza picked two each as Australia were unable to string together partnerships. Mitchell Marsh came out swinging for a fiery 60-ball 41 but Australia managed 131 runs in the morning session for the loss of seven wickets. Pakistan gave away 52 extra runs trying to put in a greater effort in favorable conditions, but were exceptional with their shots.

The afternoon session was the calm after the storm as the fast Australia had its share of dominance in advantageous conditions. Even when Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins were exploring the outside edge with their continuous lines outside the stump, Abdullah Shafiq and Imamul Haq did enough to challenge them. Nathan Lyon reaped the rewards of sustained pressure when he had Imam bowl a full ball to Labuschagne at first slip.

Pakistani duo Shan Masood and Shafiq changed course at the start of the final session. They targeted Lyon, with Masoud dancing down the track to hit a four down the ground in the spinner’s first delivery after tea. Even Starc went for 13 runs before Cummins made a double bowling change, ending Lyon’s spell after tea at 4 overs. Meanwhile, Shafiq reached his half-century, and Masood was approaching his as well, before Cummins turned the session – and the day – on its head.

First, he ended Shafiq’s stay with a sharp delivery off his bowling, then bowled a long ball that cut through Babar Azam’s defense in space for two overs. Masoud soon reached his fifty but Cummins brought Lyon back after drinks and dismissed the Pakistan captain. Lyon detected Mesut’s intention to tackle him again and bowled the ball slower into the air, creating a false outside edge in a powerful strike to Mitchell Marsh at cover.

Australia strengthened its efforts to openly divide Pakistan’s middle order, and Hazlewood provided that. He cleaned Saud Shakeel around the stumps with a fulcrum with a length that penetrated the gap of the bat pad. Less than 10 overs before stumps, Agha Salman tried to get away from his body to take the ball behind him and give Cummins his third wicket of the innings. With this, Pakistan moved from 68/1 at tea to 194/6 at stumps, still 124 runs behind.

Summary scores: Pakistan 194/6 (Abdullah Shafiq 62, Shan Masood 54; Pat Cummins 3-37, Nathan Lyon 2-48) Australia 318 (Marnus Labuschagne 63, Mitchell Marsh 41; Aamer Jamal 3-64, Mir Hamza 2-51, Hasan Ali 2-61, Shaheen Afridi 2-85