History-making Babar shuts out Aussies to seal draw

An extraordinary 196 in more than 10 hours of batting by Pakistan captain Babar Azam saw another last-day victory push by Australia stalled and enabled the home team to walk away from the second Test at Karachi with a draw that will be celebrated as loudly as any victory.

Facing a deficit of 505 and needing to bat almost two days having been bowled out in barely two sessions earlier in the match, Babar's inspiration coupled with crucial supporting roles from Mohammad Rizwan (104no) and Abdullah Shafique (96) saw Pakistan achieve history if not victory.

Australia can point to a couple of costly missed chances for failing to convert their position of superiority, but the most decisive factor was a career-best knock from Babar whose form had come into question having gone more than two years without a Test hundred before this innings.

However, just as he seemed destined to crown his team's greatest escape with his maiden Test double century, he squeezed a catch to bat-pad from the indefatigable bowling of Nathan Lyon to enliven a match that had been headed for the tamest of draws.

From Lyon's very next ball, allrounder Faheem Ashraf edged nervously to slip for a first-ball duck and while the Australia spinner was unable to complete a hat-trick, his team's spirits suddenly soared due to the dual breakthrough and the immediate availability of a third new ball.

Sensing Lyon was his potential matchwinner, Australia captain Pat Cummins kept his spinner on and was rewarded with the wicket of rival off-spinner Sajid Khan (9) rendering Pakistan 7-414 with eight overs of the match remaining.

As catchers crowded the sun-baked Karachi strip and shadows lengthened in the approaching gloaming, Rizwan and veteran spinner Nauman Ali survived that final half-hour with more than a few anxious moments.

The most telling of those came in the day's fourth-last over when Rizwan (on 91) drove at Mitchell Swepson only for the ball to hold in the pitch, but Usman Khawaja was unable to hold the ankle-height chance at extra cover.

It was fitting the popular keeper then completed his second Test century in the day's penultimate over to add a final punctuation mark to a day of Pakistan pride.

While it was understandably overshadowed by his skipper's towering achievement, Pakistan also owes much to Rizwan whose unbeaten ton not only provided steely support for Babar but enabled their team to see out a tense final phase in which Australia pushed desperately for a win.

Not only was Pakistan's heroic and epic bat-a-thon their longest (in terms of balls bowled) in the fourth innings of a Test, at 1030 deliveries it stands as the most obdurate to save a game since England's famous timeless Test against South Africa that spanned 10 days in 1939.

Australia must now regroup having for the third time in 14 months failed to close out a Test that appeared in their keeping after days of dominance, with Pakistan carrying the momentum of a moral win into next week's series decider.

And while the decision to deploy a second spinner at the expense of seamer Josh Hazlwewood was vindicated by Australia's first innings bowling effort, Swepson's final day return of 0-156 from 53.4 overs will doubtless be a discussion point.

To place Babar's innings against the world's top-ranked Test outfit in context, his previous highest score in 38 prior Tests across more than five years was 143 against Bangladesh at Rawalpindi in 2020 which also stood as his most recent ton before this epic knock.

In the course of today's heroics he surpassed former Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara's 192 at Hobart in 2007 to post the highest fourth-innings score by a Test batter against Australia.

And in overtaking Michael Atherton's unbeaten 185 (off 492 balls) against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1995, Babar earned the honour of the highest individual tally by a Test captain in the fourth innings of a match when batting is historically at its hardest.

That perhaps didn't prove to be the case today as the Karachi pitch remained a largely true batting surface despite its mosaics of cracks, but what can't be doubted is Babar's concentration and application in enduring for 425 deliveries.

His innings was also adorned with occasional jewels such as his trademark drives through cover as graceful as they are fruitful, and blows like the straight six he clubbed off Lyon's second ball after tea to announce Pakistan had not given thoughts of an audacious victory push.

When he eventually fell – with his team seemingly in safe harbour – the Australia players gathered mid-pitch to applaud him and Cameron Green jogged in from his fielding position on the mid-wicket boundary and detoured to shake the hand of Pakistan's captain who departed to a rousing ovation.

The only prize Babar and his team didn't take from one of the pluckiest final innings efforts the game has witnessed was a win, and the series remains a bat-dominated 0-0 stalemate with one game remaining.

It was reported earlier this week the Pakistan Cricket Board had approached an international pitch preparation consultant to help produce a more sporting surface for the third and final Test starting in Lahore next Monday, although on evidence presented to date there might be a greater need to find a spirit medium.

After Pakistan's batters had safely negotiated much of the first two sessions, with the only missteps being the dismissals of Shafique (96) and Fawad Alam (9), the final half hour before tea brought some sterner challenges.

Chances suddenly began to materialise for the Australia bowlers but, to the delight of the crowd at Karachi's National Stadium as word spread of deeds unfolding, they remained frustratingly beyond their grasp.

When they did beat the bat, as Lyon and Swepson did to Babar and Rizwan respectively, with the ball heading for the stumps they were stymied by the not-out call from on-field decisions.

Lyon was convinced he had Babar lbw on 157 but the bowling team's review showed the ball grazing leg stump with umpire's call intact, while the same process against Rizwan (on 10) revealed the ball to be hitting the stumps but with the batter so far down the pitch the umpire's decision again stayed.

Then, in the overs before tea, Babar fended consecutive deliveries from Swepson from the face of his bat low and to the right of fielders stationed almost within touching distance on either side of the pitch but neither Travis Head nor Marnus Labuschagne could pouch the fleeting offerings.

It's becoming a worryingly familiar theme for Australia at the back end of Tests, even if they had prepared themselves to play "grinding" cricket in Pakistan knowing the home team's preparedness to "play the long game".

Australia entered the final day acutely aware that twice in their preceding eight Tests – both at the SCG - they had failed to capture the eight (against India) and ten (England) day-five wickets needed to close out matches they had worked hard to set up.

And while Mitchell Starc and Cummins began bowling at good pace with a virtually new ball, after a couple of overs each they gave way to leg spinner Swepson and all-rounder Green as the tourists searched for signs of something in the heavily cracked pitch.

They wouldn't have gleaned much from Swepson's first two deliveries of the day – neither of which bounced and were duly sent to the fence by Babar – as the Test debutant battled to find rhythm and direction.

Despite becoming visibly frustrated with his inconsistency, Swepson was shown faith by his skipper who kept the rookie spinner in the attack for a nine-over spell during which the 28-year-old slowly regained competence and confidence.

But even though Swepson began landing the ball with greater surety and his spin partner Lyon occasionally troubled both of Pakistan's set pair of batters with a couple that stayed low and occasional sharp turn, they were unable to create so much as a half-chance.

It took the re-introduction of pace on the cusp of lunch for Australia to snare their first breakthrough in more than 106 overs of enervating slog, and it arrived as a haunting reminder of opportunities past.

Having exercised steely discipline through more than seven and a half hours at the crease, Shafique was understandably anxious to reach his second Test hundred (his first came at Rawalpindi last week) when he inched his way to 96 shortly before the break.

Whether the right-hander felt it would benefit his digestion and disposition to reach the milestone before mealtime, Shafique aimed the sort of expansive drive not seen since he was dropped at slip by Steve Smith off Cummins when on 20 yesterday.

This lapse – 80 overs later – yielded the exact same result only this time Smith hung on to the waist-high chance before tossing the ball dismissively towards the umpire to indicate that's what he should have done a day (and much angst) earlier.

Shafique could scarcely believe his downfall, and his dismissal came against the run of play as he and Babar had carried Pakistan virtually halfway to their absurd victory target of 506.

The pair's partnership of 228 was also just the third time a team has posted a 200-plus stand in the fourth innings against Australia in 145 years of Tests, and the biggest in such circumstances since West Indies openers Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes piled on 250 at Guyana in 1984.

Shafique's removal brought to the middle the hapless Fawad Alam, whose only innings of the series to the date yielded a golden duck when Starc pinned him in front of his stumps at the height of day three's carnage.

While he survived the ignominy of a king pair, Fawad was scarcely convincing during his 27-ball stay and unsurprisingly fell to a sharp catch behind the wicket off Cummins as he contorted himself around the crease.

Fawad's batting set-up is so extreme he conceivably takes his guard from the umpire at square leg, and is forever at risk of pulling away on a bowler's approach due to the movement of spectators beyond the fence at deep mid-wicket.

Neither of which helped him prosper but, given the pitch's principal problem areas were the bowlers' footmarks outside a left-hander's off stump, Fawad being replaced by right-handed Rizwan to join forces with Babar didn't damage Pakistan's cause.

Despite the ever-encroaching presence of Australia's close-in fielders and a handful of near misses in the hour prior to tea, Pakistan's resolute pair entered the final session with an increasingly vocal crowd behind them and history in their sights.

Qantas Tour of Pakistan 2022

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood.

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner. On standby: Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Renshaw

First Test: Match drawn

March 12-16: Match drawn

March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore

Australia ODI and T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi

March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi

April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi

April 5: Only T20I, Rawalpindi

All matches to be broadcast in Australia on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports