Simulating the December 2023 International Fixtures - In C19

[Viper.]

1ST TEST​

Live from Supersport Park, Centurion​

After the white ball leg, we are finally into the Test Series- can India win a test series away from home or can the Proteas avenge the other two formats' defeats in the most prestigious one??

Rohit says they need to get into focus now for the most important format, the Test Series. WTC points are at stake and SA are a very good side at their own home. Backs Jaiswal to continue his form as opener, after his performance in the Caribbean, and Gill at his new spot at 3. Also says Kishan will continue as keeper in Pant's absence and backs him off his recent WI exploits. Hopefully, our winning mojo continues here.

India XI: Rohit Sharma , Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan , Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Bavuma says losing both the white-ball tours shouldn't affect them too much mentally- Test cricket is a different kind of game and India are a very good side nevertheless. Happy to have Keegan back from Injury. Says they will miss Nortje, but backs the current pace attack in KG, Lungi, Marco and Mulder. Sad for Coetzee to miss out but they would want the extra batting from Wiaan. Hopefully we change things around and get a win and a few WTC points.

South Africa XI: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Temba Bavuma , Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne , Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi



South Africa to bat first
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1st Innings
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A disappointing show from the Proteas in the 1st innings sees them bundled for 171- Wiaan Mulder remaining not out on 46* as the top scorer while the senior batters fail as well. Mulder and Marco's partnership helped them add a bit more runs than they would've ended up with , after that start

Siraj and Bumrah were excellent with the ball for India, both grabbing 4 wickets and helping to crumble the Proteas Batting. The bowling was economical and stunning overall and it would help them that they just need 172 runs for the lead in the next innings​

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2nd Innings​

India bat stunningly in response to be bowled out for 351 runs. After Rohit and Virat miss fifties by margins, Ishan Kishan consolidates his position as keeper at 6 with a brilliant 140, that is the backbone of this brilliant Indian innings- helping them lead by 180 runs ahead of 2nd innings

Ngidi is the pick of the Protea Bowlers with 4 wickets while Jansen takes 3, but the lot are expensive overall and couldn't take wickets in time to restrict India to a lower score. Now they will need 181 runs to bring back a lead and need a huge score to pose a challenge
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3rd Innings
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A fighting knock of 86 runs from Dean Elgar at the top is the highest score for SA today, who do slightly better and end up at 229 all-out in their 2nd innings. No other 40+ score apart from Elgar and the rest of the batting fails to assist him and provide SA more runs

The Indian pacers prevail again with Bumrah adding another 3 wickets to his tally for the match, joined by Shami with 3 as well. The unit does well again to bowl out South Africa when their lead is just 49 runs, setting India just 50 to win in the next innings​

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4th Innings
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India lose a couple of wickets to start shakily but get there in the end, chasing it down in 13.2 overs- which was inevitable, to clinch this first test match

Rabada and Maharaj get a wicket each but there is no hope as the target was way too low- and India get there quite easily despite their efforts​

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India won by 8 wickets​

India lead series 1-0​

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Ishan Kishan wins MOTM for his brilliance of 140 runs at No. 6 to consolidate his claim on the wicket keeper spot for India, and to help India post a big total in the 1st innings​

 

[harishankar]

Which teams do you download from academy? What difficulty and sliders do you use?

 

[Viper.]

Which teams do you download from academy? What difficulty and sliders do you use?

I think I downloaded 2021 versions of all teams from academy. Now I just download the players individually based on who I need for the series and add them to the teams. I dont understand what you mean by the second point

 

[harishankar]

I think I downloaded 2021 versions of all teams from academy. Now I just download the players individually based on who I need for the series and add them to the teams. I dont understand what you mean by the second point

I meant what difficulty setting? Or any custom difficulty setting.

 

[Viper.]

I meant what difficulty setting? Or any custom difficulty setting.

I quick-simulated it so whatever was default

 

[Viper.]

2ND TEST​

Live from Newlands Stadium​

Into the final game of the tour, can South Africa somehow draw the test series by grabbing a win here, or do they let the Indians go 3-0 in all the formats in the tour?

Rohit says the side was spectacular in the First Test and did well in all departments. Ishan showed great amount of maturity in his new role in a new format, while the bowlers did the job really well. Siraj has been amazing throughout the tour, so he will be rested for this game. So the 1 change today is Umesh Yadav replacing Siraj. Umesh is a brilliant bowler as well with the red ball and he will definitely cover Siraj's absence well. Hopefully we win this Test Series.

India XI: Rohit Sharma , Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan , Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav
(Changes: Umesh Yadav , Mohammed Siraj )

Bavuma says the batting was not up to mark at all in the first Test and the department failed miserably; but no changes to the XI and the same team for this test as well. Players like Rickelton, Verreynne have great potential and must be given full-backing, betting on them to come well this time around. This is the best set of 11 players and they are capable of winning the game. So hopefully things go our way, says the skipper.

South Africa XI: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Temba Bavuma , Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne , Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi



South Africa to bat first​

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1st Innings
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Another dismal show from South Africa's batting unit results in them getting bowled out cheaply for 184- except Kyle Verreynne actually shows some promise with a fifty, but that's all to come from the batting as the tail too collapses badly

Umesh Yadav stars straight away with 3 wickets while the spin duo of Ash and Jadeja get a combined 5 wickets together. Shami and Bumrah go wicketless, but that's no concern to India as they have got the Proteas bundled for 184 and they need just 185 to lead in the next innings​

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2nd Innings
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Rohit Sharma smashes a scintillating century of 115 runs and Shubman Gill misses his milestone by just 12 runs. But with the help of these two massive knocks, India carry themselves to 332 runs, and have got a healthy 148 run lead ahead of the 2nd Innings for both sides

The Proteas Bowlers were expensive again. Maharaj claimed 3 wickets as the top wicket taker while Rabada and Mulder returned with 2 scalps each. But no one was really able to break partnerships in succession and prevent India from getting past 300. And now the Proteas need 149 runs to even get into a lead next innings, and a massive score if they want to pose a challenge to India's chase.
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3rd Innings
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South Africa do very well to fight back after that dismal batting show. Markram fires with 82 runs; Marco Jansen chips in with a very skillful 86 at his position at 8, in a late-surge partnership with Mulder where the latter also scores a steady fifty. They only manage to extend their lead to 190 runs though, the consequence of a very bad 1st innings performance.

Ashwin takes 4 wickets for India but for the first time, the Indian attack is quite expensive and concede their highest total of the series. Bumrah and Shami still manage 2 wickets each, and Jaiswal somehow chips in as usual and gets a wicket. India only need 191 runs now to win though, a chase they better not mess up.
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4th Innings
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Brilliance from Shubman Gill at No. 3 ensures India complete the chase without too many hiccups- the rest of the batting does fail to score but a decent start from the openers and Shubman's innings of just 7 short of a century, helps India chase this down without problems

Rabada cleans up the Openers while Jansen picks up 3 middle-order wickets, but the Proteas were unable to stop Shubman Gill from going and ruining it for them. With his wicket, they may have had a chance to pull off a miracle 4th innings defense, but in the end, it was too low of a score to win with.
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India won by 5 wickets​

India win series 2-0​

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Shubman Gill wins the MOTM well deserved, for his unbeaten 93* to chase in the 2nd innings that followed a brave 88 in the first, to help India sweep the series and win​

 

[harishankar]

We dream of such a series in reality

 

[Viper.]

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India win the Test Trophy in away conditions in fine fashion! What a way to end the tour with all the 3 format trophies in the bag​

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Rohit Sharma wins the POTS for scoring 198 runs in 4 innings at an average of 49, the best batting performance in a forgettable series for the batters​

And also because there was literally nobody else with close to a Man of the series performance​

Post automatically merged: Nov 23, 2023

END OF TOUR​

T20I Series: India won 2-1 (MOTS: Rilee Rossouw)
ODI Series: India won 2-1 (MOTS: Shubman Gill)
Test Series: India won 2-0 (MOTS: Rohit Sharma)​

 

[Viper.]

Pakistan tour of Australia ​

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TEST SERIES​

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1st Test
December 14-18
Optus Stadium, Perth
Pakistan won by 101 runs​

2nd Test
December 26-30
MCG, Melbourne
Australia won by 99 runs​

3rd Test
January 3-7
SCG, Sydney
Australia won by 173 runs​

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[Viper.]

Pakistan tour of Australia ​

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TEST SERIES SQUADS​

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Australia
Pat Cummins
Cameron Bancroft
Travis Head
Usman Khawaja
Marnus Labuschagne
Steve Smith
David Warner
Alex Carey
Jimmy Peirson
Cameron Green
Michael Neser
Scott Boland
Josh Hazlewood
Mitchell Starc
Nathan Lyon

Pat Cummins will lead Australia at home against Pakistan in Warner's final Test Series. Bancroft has been called up as backup opener for him and to prepare for the future, while Jimmy Peirson gets a call-up as the second choice keeper after his shield performances. The usual bowling attack will feature with Boland and Neser as options, as usual. Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb from recent times have missed the cut.​

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Pakistan
Shan Masood
Babar Azam
Abdullah Shafique
Agha Salman Ali
Saud Shakeel
Imam-ul-Haq
Sarfaraz Ahmed
Mohammad Rizwan
Faheem Ashraf
Mohammad Nawaz
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Hasan Ali
Mohammad Ali
Naseem Shah
Mir Hamza
Abrar Ahmed
Nauman Ali

Shan Masood will take up his first Test Series as captain, with ex-captain Babar also in the side along with the regular batsmen. Pakistan have gone for 6 pace options including Faheem Ashraf for the Australian Conditions and 3 spinners. Mohammad Ali and Mir Hamza find themselves part of the pace atack, while no place for Rauf or Shadab in the test team.

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Post automatically merged: Nov 23, 2023

P.S Pakistan have already selected a squad in real life for the series, but I will use my custom one as I did for all the other teams and series

 

[Viper.]

1ST TEST​

Live from Optus Stadium, Perth​

Pakistan are touring Australia after 4 years for a Test Series, under their new skipper Shan Masood. Can they make glory or will the Aussies give Warner the farewell he deserves with a brilliant series victory?

Shan Masood, the new captain says he's very glad to be leading Pakistan and be given this opportunity. First series being an away one is definitely a challenging start but he backs the team to deliver. The batting has found great form in the last series and thus 7 batters will be playing today including Salman Agha, with 4 proper bowlers which includes 3 quicks and 1 spinner in Abrar. Hopefully, this combination gets us off to a great start

Pakistan XI: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood , Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman Ali, Mohammad Rizwan , Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed

Cummins says the players are confident after winning the World Cup, but this is time for Test Cricket. Warner has been a great servant of the team and hopefully we win this series as a farewell gift for him. Carey will keep gloves today with Peirson as backup while the regular batting order follows. The 3 main quicks will play and Lyon as the sole spinner. We want to start this WTC on a high following last edition's success.

Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey , Pat Cummins , Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood


Pakistan to bat first
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1st Innings
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Pakistan get off to a poor start with none of their Top 4 making a significant score. But Saud Shakeel and Rizwan in the middle-order bring them back into the game with solid fifties, followed by a finishing touch by Hasan Ali with a handy 40 down the order. They get to 311 in the 1st innings

Cummins and Starc pick 3 wickets each for the Aussies, while Lyon, Hoff and Marnus pick one wicket each. The Aussies would have wanted to do better after that kind of start, and would feel they have given away a bit too many. 312 runs for them to take the lead in the next innings.
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2nd Innings
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The Australians collapse miserably in their home turf courtesy some Brilliant Pakistan Bowling. Carey is the top scorer with a fighting 30, and they reach a measly 175 off everyone chipping in with 10-30 runs but nobody being able to convert that to a big score or even a fifty.

The Pakistan bowlers share their wickets as Abrar and Naseem pick 3 each, Shaheen taking a couple and Hasan Ali with a solitary in his 8 overs. They would be very happy with how they have bowled out the home team and have a real chance of winning the game, leading by 136 runs before their 2nd innings attempt.
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3rd Innings
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Pakistan fail to replicate their 1st innings success and collapse miserably to 170 runs. Apart from Imam's 41 at the top and Rizwan's 38*, nobody is able to score more than 30 runs. But Pakistan can still breathe having acquired a good lead beforehand; so they are still leading by a good 306 runs

Australian bowlers fight back brilliantly with Cam Green getting 4 wickets, Cummins the skipper with 3 more, while the other 3 scalps belong to Starc and Lyon. They have done brilliantly to prevent Pakistan from setting them a mammoth score, with a chaseable 307 runs as target in the 4th innings now for the Aussies. However, it will still be a challenging chase
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4th Innings
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The Australians fail to capitalize on their brilliant bowling performance and collapse to 205, just about hundred runs below the target- Green is the top scorer with 41 runs in an innings that again failed to see conversion of small scores, ultimately resulting in a poor batting display overall.

Pakistan's bowlers are on song, with Abrar Ahmed picking up his first Test Fifer in SENA, taking 6 wickets in this innings and returning figures of 9/144 in the match overall. Naseem also has 3 scalps to his name, while Shaheen has the solitary wicket of Khawaja. And the Pakistani Bowlers have won them a brilliant game and started off the away test series in style against defending WTC Champions.
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Pakistan won by 101 runs​

Pakistan lead Series 1-0​

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Abrar Ahmed is awarded the Man of the Match for his 9/114 in the game, and a brilliant 6-fer in the 4th innings to knock down the Aussies chasing at home.​

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[Viper.]

2ND TEST​

Live from The MCG, Melbourne​

Can Australia avenge the defeat in the first test or do Pakistan pull off a brilliant away series win today here at the prestigious MCG??

Shan Masood says the last game was a brilliant way to start the series and they were thoroughly satisfied with the performance. But won't be carried away by one win as Australia are a dangerous side, especially at home. MCG is a different track but Shan says they will stick with the same XI as the winning combination must not be altered especially in a crucial away game. So no changes, hopefully this side can repeat the 1st test performance.

Pakistan XI: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood , Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman Ali, Mohammad Rizwan , Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed

Cummins says that was definitely not the best way to start the tour and most of the players seemed undercooked. But they are confident of their preparations now and they will come hard at Pakistan today and for the next few days. The same team because this is the side which won us the WTC and the strongest bunch of players. One failure does not say much and we are very confident of our lineup and our strengths.

Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey , Pat Cummins , Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood


Australia to bat first​

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1st Innings
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Australia have a solid first innings score on board thanks to some good knocks from the Top order. Warner top scores with 64 but is also joined by Smith with a fifty, and Usman, Marnus and later Carey who all chip in with handy 40s to get them to this total.

Shaheen is the pick of the Pakistani bowlers with 3 wickets, while Hasan, Naseem and Abrar all take a couple, with part timer Saud with a single wicket. However they lacked the consistent breakthroughs and concede a bit too many and let Australia get off to a 311 lead.
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2nd Innings
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A very good fight back from Pakistan to up the Australians by just a few runs. Babar shines with a magnificent 121 being the first centurion of the series, assisted also by Abdullah Shafique and Rizwan scoring fifties. Pakistan manage to get themselves a lead of a mere 7 runs before the next innings- the game being truly alive and even.

The Aussie Bowlers would have wanted to do better- Starc ends up being economical for 3 wickets, the highest, while Lyon and Cummins pick 2 but go at over 4 an over. The part timers in Marnus and Smith bowl 15 overs together but fail to take any wicket to end ineffective. Australia are behind only by 7 runs before their next batting innings, and the game now relies completely on their show in the next innings.
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3rd Innings
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The Aussies bat very well in response and end up all out on a solid 359. Warner misses out on a ton by just two runs, while Marnus and Head chip in with solid fifties to add to the total. They now have a lead of 352 runs and have set Pakistan a big target of 353, capitalizing on this great batting performance.

Abrar Ahmed of Pakistan manages to grab his second fifer of the series, but the bowling was a let-down overall and were highly uneconomical, unable to prevent the Aussies from going big in the crucial 2nd innings. Pakistan will now need to chase 353 in the 4th innings to win the game and the series, need some strong batting performances coming up.
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4th Innings
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Two fighting innings from Shan Masood and Rizwan are not enough for Pakistan to succeed in this tough chase. The rest of the Pakistan batting collapse for cheap scores and the team falls for 253 runs, just about a hundred runs before the target, just as the Aussies did in the first test.

The Aussie bowling was a fantastic unit overall, Marnus being the top wicket taker surprisingly with 3 scalps, while Lyon and Hazlewood take 2, and the rest of the bowling take one each- for a balanced bowling performance that helps to defend this score and take Pakistan down, and level the series.
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Australia won by 99 runs​

Series Tied 1-1​

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David Warner wins the MOTM award for scores of 64(65) and 98(125) top scoring for the Aussies in both innings, and helping them post solid totals in both of them.​

 

[Viper.]

3RD TEST​

Live from The SCG, Sydney​

Can Australia win the series for Warner in his final test, or can Pakistan turn things over? It's time for the decider in the SCG

Shan Masood says they were outplayed last game and the Aussies definitely did very well to come back and they expect such challenge in an away series against a team like them. Feel the bowling needs a bit more assistance, so Faheem Ashraf comes in for Agha Salman as the 3rd pacer today, in a pace-y SCG track. Agha hasn't been in the best of form this series so we've decided to keep him out. Hopefully we win this game and the series as well, would be a great victory away from home.

Pakistan XI: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood , Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan , Faheem Ashraf , Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed
(Changes: Faheem Ashraf , Agha Salman Ali )

Cummins says the previous test was a complete performance and it's what they're looking for this series. About the team, one change - Starc has been rested to manage workload, and Boland comes in for him. This win will be very important as it's Davey's last test, and a series win is the best possible farewell to someone who has been such a great servant to Australian Cricket. He has done so much for the country in Tests and this is one last hurdle. Besides the one bowling change, the same team.

Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey , Pat Cummins , Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland
(Changes: Scott Boland , Mitchell Starc )


Australia to bat first
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1st Innings​

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A solid batting performance from the Aussies that is due to a brilliant Cameron Green century, and good fifties coming from Khawaja, Head and Alex Carey as well, the latter strengthening his claim as the Test Keeper after a few bad scores. They get 350 runs on the board and it is a very good way to start

Hasan Ali ends up with a fifer but Pakistan's bowlers end up expensive overall and will feel they have conceded too much of a score. The extra bowler in Ashraf did not help much in solving the issue of bowling depth as he went for 0/52 in his 16. Pakistan need 351 runs to take a lead before Australia bat again.
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2nd Innings​

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After a strong start seeing both of Pakistan's openers get out just few short of their fifties, Mohammad Rizwan propels them forward with an unbeaten 93* amidst an otherwise dismal middle-order batting performance. And with that Pakistan manage to score 290 runs, still trailing by 60 ahead of the next innings.

Lyon starred for Australia with 4 wickets after bowling almost 28 overs, while Hazlewood and Cummins picked 2 each, Boland and Green ending up with a solitary wicket each. The Aussies have done a good job here and they will be confident of posting a good score next innings to add to their decent lead, to challenge Pakistan with a tough chase in the 4th innings.
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3rd Innings​

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Most of Australia's batting collapse cheaply but are saved by a brilliant Marnus Labuschagne knock of 131 runs that propels Australia to a score of 275, while also assisted by Alex Carey's slow and steady 48*. Unfortunate for Warner who fails to get past single figures again in his final Test Match, but with that, the Aussies lead by 335 runs and have a strong score to defend for the next innings.

Hasan Ali is brilliant again as he adds 4 more wickets to his match-figures, while the rest of Pakistan's bowling improve from last innings to get Aussies all out for 275. But the inability to stop Marnus prevents them from stealing the game into their hands, and now needing a huge 336 runs to win in the 4th innings chase.
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4th Innings​

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Despite a good show from the Pakistani openers, Abdullah and Imam scoring 54 and 46 respectively, the rest of the Pakistan batting crashes quite terribly to an unstoppable Pat Cummins and they are bowled out for just 162 runs in their attempt to chase a big score down.

Pat Cummins has no mercy today as he scalps 8 wickets after bowling just 9 overs, destroying the entire Pakistan batting lineup post the openers. He ends up with figures of 10 wickets in the match and helps Australia breeze their way to victory by a quite big margin, a brilliance in captaincy and bowling.
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Australia won by 173 runs​

Australia win series 2-1​

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Pat Cummins is the MOTM for his figures of 10/53 that includes a 4th innings fifer for ensure Pakistan stood no chance, winning them the series as captain after being 1-0 down​

 

[Viper.]

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Australia have clinched the Test Trophy at home after being 1 down after the 1st game, gifting Warner a great farewell to his test career.​

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Mohammad Rizwan gets the MOTM as despite the series loss, he managed to score 336 runs for Pakistan at an average of 84.00, the stand-out batsman of the series.​

 

[Viper.]

END OF TOUR​

Test Series: Australia won 2-1 (MOTS: Mohammad Rizwan)​