Key events
7th over: Pakistan 25-2 (Masood 6, Babar 19) BANG goes Babar! Starc went wide of the crease and the right-hander from Lahore carved it away for four. After a slow start, the former Pakistan captain is now nicely in his stride. And he goes again from the final ball as Starc goes wider and Babar strides out to meet it on the up, rocketing it to the rope for another four through covers. Great shot Babar!
6th over: Pakistan 16-2 (Masood 5, Babar 11) Babar Azam and Josh Hazlewood face off again. These two have duelling since they were teenage tearaways with Hazlewood very much holding the upper hand. The big man from Tamworth has had Babar’s measure in this series, often pinning him on the crease with tight lines and getting him swishing before then dangling a wider ball within his reach and getting Babar edging to slips. Four balls into the over, Hazlewood plays that card but this time Babar is ready stepping down and driving handsomely to the boundary, his first of the day.
5th over: Pakistan 12-2 (Masood 5, Babar 7) Straight ball meets straight bat as Babar punches Starc down the ground for a couple. Starc’s response is an inswinger pitched at the bootlaces. Babar works it away for a single. Masood swipes at the next one and Babar backs up halfway down the pitch before his captain curtly sends him back. Good call with Marnus Labuschagne swooping in and sending the return while spinning on his knees.
4th over: Pakistan 9-2 (Masood 5, Babar 4) A swat… but a dot! Babar always comes out with a positive intent but this scenario will test him. Pakistan have shown they can match it with Australia’s bowlers but do they have the patience and the problem-solving abilities to mount an early counter-attack on Australia with their tail up. Babar runs a single while they think it over.
3rd over: Pakistan 8-2 (Masood 5, Babar 3) Masood scampers a single from Starc’s first delivery to take his total – and Pakistan’s – to five runs albeit at the cost of two top-order wickets. Now Babar will face Starc – two aggressive cricketers keen to resume hostilities. Will Babar, a 51-Test tyro play his natural game and attack? He does, reaching out for a Starc wide ball and scudding it through gully for three. With a pitch doing plenty, two uptempo batters at the crease and an Australian bowling attack on fire, this will be a lively first session.
2nd over: Pakistan 4-2 (Masood 4, Babar 0) Beautiful day in Sydney and beautiful bowling by Australia has lit up Day 1. Hazlewood finishes with a maiden and Pakistan’s best batters, captain Masood and No 4 Babar Azam have a huge task in front of them.
WICKET! Ayub c Carey b Hazlewood 0 (Pakistan 4-2)
Another big edge on the second ball of an over, this time from Hazlewood’s first over, and the 21-year-old debutant Saim Ayub is OUT! Horror start for Pakistan and a sensational one for Australia with both openers back in the pavillion after eight deliveries!
WICKET! Shafique c Smith b Starc 0 (Pakistan 1-0)
Edged second ball! A big outswinger and Shafique’s horror series continues as Australia get off to a dream start in 2024! That was another bad stroke by the opener whose hands – as batter and catcher (or non-catcher, as it were) – have got him into plenty of trouble in this series.
1st over: Pakistan 4-1 (Ayub 0, Masood 4) Here we go, folk! Mitchell Starc has the new ball and he’s thundering in to Shafique. David Warner, who took the field with his three daughters wearing Australia Test shirts with “Warner 31” on the back, is in the slips wearing a new baggy green with his old ones still MIA. After Shafique’s second ball dismissal, new batter and Pakistan captain Shan Masood hits back with a four.
Players have taken to the field and a healthy SCG crowd is applauding David Warner for a final time while nursing a vague disappointment they aren’t watching him pad up to bat in this first session. Uncle Allen Madden, Gadigal elder, is issuing a typically evocative Welcome to Country. Here come the anthems. Surely Warner will shed a tear?
For those who came in late… The Guardian’s Geoff Lemon has this primer for the third Test
COIN TOSS: Pakistan have won the toss at the SCG and will bat
Pakistan captain Shan Masood has called correctly and his boys will put the pads on. Australia’s skipper Pat Cummins admits he would’ve made the same call but with a bowling attack like his, I doubt he’ll mind rolling the arm over on his home ground.
Here are the teams, with Australia unchanged and a few changes for Pakistan with Afridi being rested, Imam dropped, Saim Ayub making his Test debut and Sajid Khan coming in.
Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Mitchell Marsh 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood
Pakistan: 1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Shan Masood (capt), 4 Babar Azam, 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Agha Salman, 8 Sajid Khan, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Mir Hamza, 11 Aamer Jamal
Preamble
Hello cricket fans and welcome to the third series outing between Australia and Pakistan, the fabled ‘Pink Test’ at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Angus Fontaine here under sunny Sydney skies to usher you through the opening sessions with Geoff Lemon to bring you home.
Australia lead this entertaining series 2-0 but it could have been so different had Pakistan not let the second Test slip through their fingers in Melbourne. The visitors batted and bowled with courage and flair to land some serious punches on the world Test champions. But those fists of fury also dropped David Warner in the second over of the match then fumbled an edge from Mitchell Marsh in the second innings which might’ve put Australia to the sword 47-5. Those fatal fumbles cost Pakistan crucial runs, cruelled hard-earned ascendency and lost them a match ultimately decided by only 79 runs.
That loss was rivalled this week by David Warner’s baggy green cap going MIA. As he flew from Melbourne to Sydney for his final Test match before retirement, the 112-Test veteran had the misfortune of having his backpack – in which his caps were stored – stolen from his suitcase. A nationwide cap-hunt has ensued as airlines, hotels, freight companies scoured CCTV for clues and Warner issued an emotional plea for its return.
Even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called on whoever purloined the prized artefact to hand it in before the first ball is bowled this morning. “A missing baggy green? Well, that’s just not cricket!” the PM texted this morning. “Davey’s earned the right to wear his one final time. If you can help, let’s make it happen.” Can Guardian readers help in this sacred quest? Drop me a line if you have information on the cap’s whereabouts, or if you simply want to wax on Warner himself – big hits, great memories, various scandals – or on the action soon to come.
Can Pakistan hit back here? Or will Australia’s golden season continue? We’ll be back with the teams and coin toss shortly.
