Brisbane: Azhar Ali and Younis Khan resisted all Australian attempts to dislodge them before rain brought an early tea break at the Gabba and further cause for Pakistani optimism.
While the target of 490 remained enormously distant, the arrival of ill weather – causing the ground staff to rush onto the ground before the rain actually began to fall – gave the hosts pause, having dominated the first three days of the Test.
The overnight batsmen showed good sense and plenty of determination to take their partnership to 77 without giving a chance. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were unable to find the right length to trouble the batsmen as they had done earlier in the match, while Jackson Bird and Nathan Lyon were also unable to break through.
Bird did coax one outside edge from Younis but it fell fractionally short of Matt Renshaw at first slip. Azhar also gloved Lyon when trying to sweep but the deflection bounced off Matthew Wade’s gloves before falling safely out of reach of Steven Smith running back from first slip. Azhar reached his painstaking half-century off 146 balls in 233 minutes.
Australia have yet to lose at the Gabba in 27 Tests stretching back to 1988.
The highest winning run chase in the fourth innings at the Gabba stands at 236 for seven by Australia against the West Indies in 1951.
But Pakistan will have to go well beyond the record highest-ever Test run chase of 418 for seven set by the West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2003.
