Quantcast

Twin tons power Pakistan to day one dominance

Unbeaten centuries to Babar Azam and Asad Shafiq put the visitors in a commanding position at stumps

Babar Azam has reinforced his standing as Pakistan's talisman, scoring a commanding unbeaten century in the pink-ball tour match against Australia A in Perth.

Test stalwart Asad Shafiq also reached triple figures before Pakistan went to stumps at 3-336 on day one of the three-day clash.

A strong Australia A pace attack led by Michael Neser and Jhye Richardson toiled as Babar (157no) and Shafiq (119no) piled on a colossal 276-run partnership.

The hosts weren't helped by a pink Kookaburra ball which quickly lost its hardness and didn't offer much even under lights on a tame Perth Stadium pitch.

Babar had a lucky escape when he glanced his second ball faced down the leg-side and a diving Alex Carey was only able to get a fingertip to it.

From there, it was a chanceless and masterful knock highlighted by the frequent use of a beautifully-timed straight drive.

Pakistan's T20 skipper reached his century off just 126 balls and had plundered 24 boundaries by the time he walked off the ground.

Brilliant Babar posts unbeaten hundred

"He's an exceptionally good player," Australia Test hopeful Travis Head said.

"He's obviously translated that (white-ball) form nicely today.

"We'll think of some plans over the next couple of days and the next couple of weeks, I guess, for the guys playing the first Test against him."

Having stamped himself as one of the world's best white-ball batters, Babar will be looking to carry his sparkling form into the Test arena.

Babar top-scored with 99 when Australia and Pakistan squared off last October in Abu Dhabi, where the hosts won by 373 runs to claim the series.

The right-hander has averaged 53 from his past 11 Test innings including that knock.

Shafiq shows class with disciplined century

Test prospect Riley Meredith snared two early wickets after Pakistan captain Azhar Ali won the toss and elected to bat.

Tasmanian speedster Meredith delivered the highlight of Monday's opening session, coming around the wicket to left-hander Shan Masood and sending down a vicious bouncer which the opener fended to Abbott at point.

The day-night match is doubling as a national selection shootout ahead of the first Test at the Gabba starting on November 21, with Travis Head, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Joe Burns and Will Pucovski all lining up for Australia A. 

Coach Justin Langer and chief selector Trevor Hohns will sit down on Wednesday to pick their squad for the Gabba, with Harris, Khawaja and Burns competing to open the batting alongside David Warner.

Australia A XI: Marcus Harris, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Will Pucovski, Cameron Bancroft, Alex Carey (c & wk), Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Sean Abbott, Riley Meredith

Pakistan XI: Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (c), Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, (wk), Yasir Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Imran Khan 

Domain Test Series v Pakistan

Australia squad: TBC

Pakistan squad: Azhar Ali (c), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Snr, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah.

Warm-up match: v Australia A, November 11-13, Perth Stadium (d/n)

Warm-up match: v Cricket Australia XI, November 15-16, WACA Ground

First Test: November 21-25, Gabba (Seven, Fox & Kayo)

Second Test: November 29 – December 3, Adelaide (d/n) (Seven, Fox & Kayo)