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Aided by a strip of grass on the pitch, Afridi removed Warner and Labuschagne in the third over of the innings
Lunch Australia 70 for 2 (Khawaja 31*, Smith 28*, Afridi 2-17) vs Pakistan
A pumped-up Shaheen Shah Afridi made a mockery of supposedly sedate conditions in Lahore with the early wickets of David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne, but Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith halted Pakistan’s momentum during a lively opening session of the series-deciding third Test.
After Pat Cummins won a crucial toss and elected to bat, Australia recovered from a nervy 8 for 2 to reach lunch at 70 for 2 with in-form Khawaja on 31 not out and Smith unbeaten on 28.
A determined Smith looked in vintage touch early and was supported by Khawaja, who played anchor initially in a contrast to his fluent starts this series where he has been Australia’s best batter and only centurion.
Australia could have been in a worse predicament after Smith and Khawaja were dropped on consecutive deliveries in the 16th over, left-arm spinner Nauman Ali’s first of the innings. Babar Azam missed a chance at slip to dismiss Khawaja before Nauman spilt a return catch after Smith advanced and smashed it straight back.
Aided by a strip of grass on the pitch, Afridi lit a fuse under the Test with a superb five-over burst with the new ball to leave the sparse crowd jubilant.
After many barren stretches for bowlers in this series, Afridi struck in the third over of the innings when he trapped Warner lbw for 7 with a pearler of a delivery that cut back. Warner’s relatively lean series continued and he has now gone 39 international innings without a century.
Two balls later he lured Labuschagne into a loose drive to have him caught behind. This was Labuschagne’s second duck in three innings.
Afridi had a word words with the incoming batter Smith and capped the scintillating over with a huge lbw shout first delivery to him but the ball had pitched outside the line of leg stump.
It was an unusually early entry for Smith, but he showcased his penchant for adversity with sweet timing to lead Australia’s fightback.
Naseem Shah, who was brought in for Faheem Ashraf, bowled accurately but couldn’t match the penetration of Afridi, who was eventually blunted by a gritty Smith.
Apart from being reprieved by Nauman, Smith only appeared flustered when a remote-controlled camera used for the broadcast affected his concentration.
The historic series, the first between the teams in Pakistan since 1998, is deadlocked after two draws in batting-friendly conditions in Rawalpindi and Karachi. Even though similar conditions have been tipped in Lahore, underlined by Cummins having no hesitation to bat first, there was intrigue over the surface on a ground that hasn’t hosted a Test since 2009.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth