Australia made a convincing start to the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan on Tuesday before rain washed out most of play and tight bowling restricted them to 187-3 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Marnus Labuschagne (44no) and Travis Head (nine not out) will resume on Wednesday building on their unbeaten 33-run partnership as the hosts look to win the series with a third and final Test to spare.
Australia thrashed Pakistan in the first Test with an empathic 360-run victory in Perth two weeks ago which saw Nathan Lyon take his 500th Test wicket.
Australia were looking to capitalise on their home advantage after being put into bat on a green wicket in Melbourne with openers David Warner (38) and Usman Khawaja (42) sharing a 90-run stand from 163 deliveries.
Pakistan’s left-arm seamers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mir Hamza got the ball moving both ways to trouble the Australian openers.
Warner, who is playing in the penultimate Test of his career, was dropped on two after he edged Afridi to Abdullah Shafique at slip but the Pakistan opener grounded a regulation catch.
Warner departed shortly before lunch when loosely reaching for a wide delivery from spinner Agha Salman (1-5) and edging to Babar Azam in the slips.
Pakistan’s Aamer Jamal dismissed Australia’s Steve Smith after a successful caught behind review
Usman Khawaja, who inscribed his daughters names – Aisha and Ayla – on his boots after being banned from wearing references to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, lasted six more overs before he edged fast bowler Hasan Ali (1-28) to Salman Agha in the slips for 42.
Labuschagne and Steve Smith (26) added a 46-run partnership before the heavy rain sent most of the 62,167 crowd scurrying for the exits and forced an early tea break.
After play resumed Afridi seemed to have Smith trapped lbw but a review showed the ball going over the stumps and the Australian right-hander survived on 19.
However, a review for caught behind off the bowling of Aamer Jamal (1-47) did send Smith packing after DRS confirmed he feathered behind to Muhammad Rizwan.
Warner: It was a tough start
Australia’s opening batter David Warner (38):
“It was quite challenging. When they put the ball in the right areas, they challenged our front-foot defence. A lot of play and misses,” said Warner.
“They didn’t give us too many freebies, which in Perth I felt they did a bit. So yeah, it was a tough start.”
What’s next?
The second Test will resume on December 27 until December 30 before both sides head to Sydney for the final Test from January 2 to January 7 2024.
