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Misbah-ul-Haq equals fastest Test ton as Pakistan near Australia series win
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(5 months later)
Misbah-ul-Haq belied his reputation as a ponderous batsman by equalling the record for the fastest Test century on Sunday, reaching the milestone in 56 balls against Australia in Abu Dhabi.
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Australia appear headed for a huge defeat as Pakistan prepare to clinch a 2-0 series sweep on Monday’s final day of play. Set a gigantic target of 603 to win the second Test on a pitch which assists the spinners, Australia will resume on Monday on 4-143.
Needing eight runs from two balls, the Pakistan captain hit Mitchell Starc for consecutive boundaries to match Viv Richards’ 1986 record against England at St John’s, Antigua.
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With Pakistan taking a 309-run first innings lead against a lacklustre Australia, the 40-year-old Misbah walked out to bat on the fourth day of the second Test under no real pressure and immediately imposed himself upon the opposition, aided by a little luck.
After hitting the first ball he faced from Steve Smith for a boundary, he sliced the next and a running Peter Siddle at cover dropped a shoulder-high catch.
Misbah did not look back after that and took only 21 balls to complete his half-century, bettering Jacques Kallis’s record 24-ball fifty against Zimbabwe in Cape Town in 2005.
The right-hander hit five sixes – including three in one Smith over – and 11 fours in his 57-ball knock of 101 when he declared with Pakistan on 3-293 in their second innings at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Meanwhile Australia coach Darren Lehmann says his team won’t brush aside the disappointments of their tour and simply move on. “You’ve got to take stock of where you are,” Lehmann said.
Lehmann said Australia had been totally outplayed again, following their 221-run loss in the first Test in Dubai.
“We’ve got to get to the drawing board and make it right,” he said. “In [Australia’s] last six Test matches [in Asia] and hopefully we can get out of jail, but we certainly haven’t played well enough.”
A defeat on Monday would mean a 2-0 loss in the United Arab Emirates after going down 4-0 away to India in 2013. Lehmann said it would be a great achievement if youngsters such as Steve Smith (38 not out) and Mitchell Marsh (26 not out) were able to help Australia force a draw.
“But our top order batting, basically the top six, haven’t made enough runs,” he said. “It would have been nice to win one of the tosses and see how they would have performed early on in the game and see the shoe on the other foot.
“We certainly haven’t produced the goods in this series. I don’t think we’ve won a session in this Test match and maybe only dare I say two in the last Test match. So we’ve been totally outplayed.”
Brad Haddin (shoulder) and pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson are expected to bat on Monday despite injuries. Lehmann played down Johnson’s hip problem.
“He just got some treatment and then they declared,” Lehmann said. “But he’ll be fine.”
Australia’s record of one win in 15 Tests in Asia since Shane Warne’s 2007 retirement is set to become even worse after another embarrassing day in Abu Dhabi. Australia lost the early wickets of Chris Rogers (two), Glenn Maxwell (four) and Michael Clarke (five) to the left-arm spin of Zulfiqar Babar. Clarke has made only 57 runs at 14.25 in the current series.
David Warner’s attempted slog sweep went straight up in the air on 58 at 4-101, but the left-hander has done well in this series with 239 runs at 59.75.
