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The five days of drama in the second Test between Pakistan and Australia at National Stadium in Karachi finally ended with the hosts securing a draw, thanks to their skipper Babar Azam’s breathtaking knock.
In the first innings, Pakistan managed just 148 runs in response to Australia’s 556/6d, which featured Usman Khawaja’s scintillating century. The visitors didn’t proceed with the follow-on and declared their second innings at 97/2, setting up a massive target of 506 runs.
In reply, the hosts almost did the impossible and managed to reach 443/7 in the fourth innings before the end of final day’s play. Babar and young Abdullah Shafique played the anchor role to form a 228-run stand in 524 balls to keep Pakistan’s hopes alive.
Shafique missed the three-figure mark by four runs, but vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan stepped up and further frustrated the tourists. Babar missed out his do🅠uble century by a whisker after getting out for 196, while Rizwan reached his hundred and remained unbeaten on 104 before the officials announced the stumps on Day 5.
“The plan was to bat session-by-session and build partnerships. It was a team effort, as others (Shafique and Rizwan) chipped in with useful contributions too. We took the onus, and the main focus was to build partnerships right throughout the day. Rizwan was outstanding as he saved the Test for us eventually. We wanted to continue to bat in the same way (after the tea break), and we tried to be positive and play our shots. The team needed this knock, so I tried to bat for as long as I could,” said Babar after the match.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
Five action-packed days gave us plenty of moments to celebrate and learn from. Two proud ca💖ptains led their teams f✨rom the front and the crowd was here for it! l
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB)
Special effort from to draw the match & 2 special players saved the match. Test match full of thrill & excitement till𝔉 last over of the game ✅. Two test ma♛tches resulted in draw games. Let’s hav series decider next week in Lahore 😍
— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22)
Simply Amazing & 👏🏼👏🏼
— Dimuth Karunarathna (@IamDimuth)
A special knock by a special player.
196 by .— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph)
Some innings give victories,
but some build character. An𝔍d the latter areಌ always helpful in the long run. Character building innings and match from and co. Well done to and his men too, almost pulled off something special. 👏🏼— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14)
Terrific Test match. Incredible individual performances. Played in grཧeat spirit from both sides. Bring on the next one
— Adam Burnett (@AdamBurnett09)
Test cricket was where Babar Azam needed to tak🅺e a step up and here it is. 480 to get and 170 overs t﷽o bat when he walked in. Hope of a miraculous win might have flickered but even a draw is a great result. What a player.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha)
Pakistan is only the second team in Test history to save the ga🦋me by batting 1000+ balls in 4th inns. The first was England in the timeless Test in Durban in 1939. That match went on for 10 days and had to be stopped otherwise England would have missed the boat for home.
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad)
Moham🐻mad Rizwan has played some incredible knocks in international cricket in the last few yꦓears
— Isa Guha (@isaguha)
Remarkable performance from Pakistan over the last couple of days in Karachi. Pulled off one of the great💮 draws. Babar and Rizwan fantastic on the final day. 171.4 overs in the field for Australia in Pakistan’s second innings 😣
— Rob Johnston (@RobJ_Cricket)
That's what you call a captain's innings and leading from the front
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket)
Can’t think of many more entertaining centuries in a dramatic draw than this one from Mohammad Rizwan. Never changed his game, literally took the equation out of the picture &am𝓡p; ended up as the toast of Karachi
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07)
As𒁏 the players walked off the field it was pretty clear which side was happier.
— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell)
Players with worst bowling figures in an innings of Test debut:
0/163 – Adil Rashid 🏴
0/159 – Zafar Gohar 🇵🇰
0/156 – Mitchell Swepson 🇦🇺
0/149 – Bryce McGain 🇦🇺Coincid𝓰entally Swepson is the first specialist leg-spinner to debut for Australia since McGain in 2009.
— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats)
It's a draw in Karachi.
Pakistan batted for 171.4 overs in the 4th innings against Australia to make second Test a draw – 196 by Babar, 104* by Rizwan & 96 by Shafique – A classic final day.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns)
