Defiant Babar leads from the front as Pakistan draw 2nd Australia Test

KARACHI: A defiant Babar Azam led form the front and Mohammad Rizwan hammered a scintillating undefeated ton as Pakistan drew second Australia Test against all odds at National Stadium here on Wednesday. The opening Test in Rawalpindi had also ended in a draw. After being bowled out for 148 in the first innings in reply to Australia’s mammoth 556-9, it seemed that there was no chance for the home team to survive the attack of the tourists and overhaul the winning target of 506. No team have ever scored more than 418 in the fourth innings to win a Test, while Pakistan’s highest successful chase was 377 against Sri Lanka at Pallekele in 2015. But Australia were frustrated on the final day of the Test as the resilient Pakistan snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat.

After two matches, the series still remains even but the result of the second Test must have felt a moral win for Pakistan, who at one point on the penultimate day were reeling at 21 for 2 in pursuit of a gargantuan target with a sea of overs left to survive. Pakistan’s best bet on the final day was to bat out their overs and Babar led by example as they finished on 443-7, the sixth highest fourth innings total of all time. Babar’s majestic knock, which included 21 fours and a six, will be an inspiration for his team heading into the third and final Test starting in Lahore on Monday.

The Pakistan skipper added an invaluable 228 runs for the third wicket with Abdullah Shafique (96) and another 115 for the fifth with Rizwan, keeping Australia’s spin-cum-pace attack at bay. Rizwan hit 11 boundaries and a six. With Pakistan falling 63 short of the 506-run target, the record for the highest chase in all Test cricket remains with the West Indies who scored 418 against Australia at Antigua in 2003.

Babar smashed 196 and Rizwan made 104 not out. The Pakistan pair put the home team well on course for a draw, but spinner Nathan Lyon turned the match on its head by dismissing Babar and Faheem Ashraf with successive deliveries. Babar also survived a confident leg-before appeal against Lyon when on 157, but it turned out to be umpire Aleem Dar’s call on review.

Lyon came on to bowl the third of the 15 mandatory remaining overs of the match, and with his fourth delivery had Babar glove a catch to Marnus Labuschagne at forward short-leg. Next ball Lyon had Ashraf caught at slip to raise hopes of an Australian win. The late-hour drama also saw Usman Khawaja drop Rizwan on 91 off luckless spinner Mitchell Swepson with 18 balls left in the match. The pugnacious Rizwan, in company of tailender Nauman Ali (nought), batted out 46 balls during their 29-run stand for the eighth wicket to keep the three-match series tied at 0-0.

Earlier Australia dismissed Shafique and Fawad Alam (09) in the first two sessions and could have had Babar on 161, but first Travis Head and then Labuschagne dropped sharp catches off spinner Swepson. Shafique, who hit 136 not out in the drawn first Test in Rawalpindi, drove Pat Cummins for a boundary to reach 96. But in his next over the Australian fast bowler drew the right-hander into another drive which this time found the edge. Steve Smith held a sharp catch in the slips, making amends for dropping the same batsman, on 20, from a more straightforward chance at slip off Cummins the day before.

Babar’s marathon innings broke many records: With the game and the home team’s pride on the line, Babar came in to bat on Tuesday when the team was reeling at 21 for 2. He formed an incredible 228-run partnership for the third wicket with Abdullah Shafique but did not flinch even when the young one departed four runs short of his century. The skipper had completed his 100 the previous day and was closing in on his first-ever double century when he fell prey to Nathan Lyon. In all, he scored 196 off 425 balls, hit 21 boundaries and a solitary six. His innings may have ended in a heartbreak but it took nothing away from his performance. It was a day to remember for Babar, who played his best and most memorable knock in Pakistan colours – certainly in Tests and maybe even in all formats. His innings broke many records. Babar’s 196 is the highest score by a Pakistan batsman in the fourth innings of a Test match. Previously, Younus Khan held that record. He had scored a 107 against India in Kolkata in 2007. It means that Babar improved that record by an astonishing 89 runs. Babar’s 196 is also the highest score by a captain of any nationality in the fourth innings of a Test match. Previously, the record was held by England’s Mike Atheron, who had scored an unbeaten 185 against South Africa in Johannesburg in 1995. Babar consumed 425 balls, which makes his knock the longest ever in the 4th innings by a Pakistan batsman in Test cricket. The record was previously held by Shoaib Malik, who had consumed 369 balls in his knock of 148 not out against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2006. Australia are on their first tour of Pakistan since 1998, having previously refused to tour the country over security fears. The third and final Test starts in Lahore on Monday.