Lahore
\nPakistan and Australia head to the third and final Test in Lahore with the series locked and all to play for but the home side will feel they have the momentum after pulling off a brilliant save in Karachi.
\nInspired by a majestic 196 by captain Babar Azam and 104 by Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan\u2019s 171.4-over stonewall was the longest any team has batted in the fourth innings of a Test, barring England\u2019s epic 654 for five in the \u2018Timeless Test\u2019 against South Africa in Durban in 1939.
\n\u201c(Batting) five sessions in a Test match against a world-class team like Australia is no joke,\u201d said wicketkeeper Rizwan.
\n\u201cThis match is definitely a benchmark for our team to rise above.\u201d
\nPakistan have now twice foiled Australia\u2019s vaunted attack, though the lifeless Rawalpindi pitch aided the home side\u2019s cause in the series-opener.
\nAustralia, meanwhile, spoke of disappointment in falling three wickets short of victory but may quietly feel relieved to leave Karachi with the series tied.
\nPakistan were motoring toward what would have been a record 506-run chase for victory until spinner Nathan Lyon dismissed Babar and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf in consecutive balls.
\nAustralia\u2019s inability to close out matches from dominant positions on day five has become a problem.
\nThey have now racked up five such failures in their last 19 Tests, having let England off the hook in Sydney during the recent Ashes and India twice in the 2-1 series defeat in the previous home summer.
\nWhile Australian media questioned whether skipper Pat Cummins might have enforced the follow-on rather than making his team bat again, the tourists\u2019 sloppy fielding on day five ultimately paved the way for disappointment.
\nMitchell Swepson, Australia\u2019s first Test legspinner in more than a decade, may feel particularly aggrieved after finishing with figures of 0-156 from nearly 54 overs\u2019 work in the fourth innings of his debut Test, with four chances going begging off his bowling.
\n\u201cI thought \u2018Swep-o\u2019 bowled fantastically today,\u201d Cummins said.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know how he\u2019s ended up with those figures.\u201d
\nThe wicket at Lahore\u2019s Gaddafi Stadium will be something of an unknown as it hosts its first Test since 2009.
\nSelecting an attack has been a virtual guessing game for Australia on their first tour of Pakistan in 24 years and Lahore may be no different.
\nCummins said they will at least have a full complement of bowlers to choose from, with him and his fellow pacemen sparing themselves a bigger workload in Karachi by routing Pakistan for 148 in their first innings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lahore Pakistan and Australia head to the third and final Test in Lahore with the series locked and all to play for but the home side will feel they have the momentum after pulling off a brilliant save in Karachi. Inspired by a majestic 196 by captain Babar Azam and 104 by Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250189,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[423,248,20],"class_list":{"0":"post-250167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-lahore","10":"tag-pakistan"},"yoast_head":"\n