Sydny: A rampant Australia beat Pakistan by an innings and 18 runs in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to clinch the three-Test series 2-0 on Friday.
\nThe Australians roared to victory in the last two sessions of the final day dismissing the tourists after declaring before lunch at 624 for eight.
\nPakistan went into the final session at 91\/5 and managed to rack up 163 before the middle-order collapsed with three crucial wickets taken by Aussie bowler Nathan Lyon.
\nAustralian wicketkeeper Matthew Wade (R) attempts to run out batsman Asad Shafiq (C) as teammate David Warner looks on during the final day of the second Test match in Melbourne. Lyon, whose bowling consistency has been questioned by captain Steve Smith, produced an inspired two wickets in three balls to put Pakistan on the slide and Australia on track for a stunning final day victory.
\nHe coaxed Younis Khan to push forward and be caught by Peter Handscomb centimetres off the ground at short leg for 24 and then dismissed skipper Misbah-ul-Haq to an injudicious sweep for a duck.
\nMisbah swept outside his off-stump to Nic Maddinson placed at short fine leg for the premeditated shot.
\nSuddenly both of Pakistan’s two experienced batsmen were gone and four wickets down with Australia attacking with their tails up.
\nSkipper Steve Smith set the ball rolling for a dramatic victory when he declared Australia\u2019s first innings at 624 for eight just before lunch.
\nThat gave Australia a 181-run lead and a minimum of 70 overs to bowl out Pakistan.
\nIn the end the Australians needed only 53.2 overs to pull off an emphatic victory and with their 39-run win in the first Gabba Test to clinch the three-Test series.
\nWhile Smith was named man-of-the-match for his unbeaten 165, it was Starc who put his stamp on the game with his sensational effort with bat and ball.
\nStarc clubbed seven sixes, the most in an innings in a Melbourne Test, and was severe on Yasir Shah, belting the leg-spinner for five sixes.
\nHe then got into the act with the ball and took the wickets of Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah to clean up the Pakistan tail for Australia.
\nIt was an astonishing collapse by the tourists, who appeared safe from defeat after amassing 443 for nine declared in their first innings over the first three rain-affected days before losing control of the match.
\nThe defeat was Pakistan\u2019s 11th straight test loss in Australia after their last win in Sydney in 1995.
\nSkipper Smith set up the exciting finish with a calculated declaration shortly before lunch.
\nHe called a halt to a massive first innings at 624 for eight — remaining unbeaten on 165 off 246 balls — to give his fast bowlers a crack at the Pakistan openers just before the interval. Starc\u2019s seven sixes surpassed the record in an innings in a Melbourne Test held by Andrew Symonds with six in his 72 against South Africa in 2005.
\nStarc put on 154 runs for the seventh wicket with Smith off 172 balls and upon Lyon\u2019s dismissal, caught and bowled by Yasir for 12, Smith said that was enough and raced from the ground.
\nIt was the skipper\u2019s 17th Test century and fourth for the year and he will finish 2016 with 1,079 runs at 71.93.
\nPakistan were soon in trouble with Sami Aslam bowled by Josh Hazlewood off a bottom edge for two in the second over of the innings.
\nBabar Azam was trapped leg before wicket for three by Starc on the first ball after lunch.
\nLyon, his bowling consistency questioned by his captain, produced an inspired two wickets in three balls to put Pakistan on the slide.
\nHe coaxed the veteran Younis Khan to push forward and be brilliantly caught by Peter Handscomb at short leg for 24 and then dismissed skipper Misbah-ul-Haq to an injudicious sweep for a duck.
\nLyon struck again just before tea when he had in-form Azad Shafiq snapped up by Handscomb at short leg for 16.
\nHazlewood removed first innings double-centurion Azhar Ali leg before wicket for 43 after tea, to get the Australians into the Pakistan tail.
\nJackson Bird bowled Mohammad Amir for 11 before Starc arrowed one in on Sarfraz Ahmed\u2019s stumps for 43 and followed on by cleaning up Wahab Riaz for a duck.
\nStarc symbolically claimed the final wicket when Yasir Shah took a leading edge to spoon an easy catch for Bird at mid-on.
\nLyon finished with the figures of three for 33 off 14 overs.
\nMitchell Starc capped off a big-hitting 84 off 91 balls to take four wickets to help dismiss Pakistan and propel Australia to a final day victory.
\nPakistan went into the final session with first innings double-centurion Azhar Ali on 34 and Sarfraz Ahmed on one and still trailing by 90 runs.
\nSkipper Steve Smith was left unbeaten on 165 when he called a halt to the massive Australian first innings to give his bowlers a minimum of 70 overs to see off the tourists.
\nBut the Australians only needed 53.2 overs to bowl out Pakistan with Starc taking four for 36 and off-spinner Nathan Lyon capturing three for 33.
\nAustralia won the series ahead of Tuesday’s final Test in Sydney with Pakistan now having lost their last 11 Tests in Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sydny: A rampant Australia beat Pakistan by an innings and 18 runs in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to clinch the three-Test series 2-0 on Friday. The Australians roared to victory in the last two sessions of the final day dismissing the tourists after declaring before lunch at 624 for eight. Pakistan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8708","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n