'Pathetic': Cricket world up in arms over 'farcical' scenes

Day two of Australia's opening Test match against Pakistan has descended into farce, after the tourists were once again punished by a batting onslaught from the home side.

Australia have set their sights on defying history as they aim to bat their way back into the Rawalpindi Test and pull off the most unlikely win against Pakistan.

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The tourists were saved from a difficult final hour on day two, with bad light stopping play at 0-5 after Pakistan had declared on 4-476.

The close was further complicated by a bizarre seven-minute delay to the start of Australia's innings with the roller still on the pitch and confusion over whether quicks could bowl before only one over was sent down.

All of that worked firmly in Australia's favour, as has the fact that they were able to bowl tight enough to contain Pakistan to a run-rate of 2.94 per over.

The bizarre end to the second day's play proved a major talking point though, as the roller delay and then the bad light stoppage left many fans outraged.

When play finally did resume after Pakistan's declaration, fast bowler Shaheen Afridi was forced to give up the new ball to spinner Sajid Khan, because the fading light was deemed to dangerous for the batsman to face a quick.

However, Khan only got one over in before the decision was made to end play prematurely, with 15 overs still remaining in the day.

Cricket writer Andrew McGlashan tweeted: “Cricket sets a high bar, but that’s been a reasonably farcical few minutes.”

It all resulted in a huge setback for Pakistan, who were only given one over to bowl at the Aussies after almost two full days in the field - having failed to surpass 500 runs over that period.

Many fans were left perplexed by the situation, with Pakistan slammed over their slow run rate and amount of time spent out in the middle.

Due to Pakistan's slow run rate, the Aussies firmly believe they are still in the contest if they can bat big and build a sizeable lead.

That is despite Pakistan's first three partnerships all topping 100, with Azhar Ali hitting 185 and Imam-ul-Haq 157.

"If we bat really well we can turn the game and potentially have something to bowl at later on day five," Marcus Labuschagne said.

"We need to bat well. Two days are out of the game. We've got a really big day tomorrow where we need to set a really good platform.

"And then day four is going to be the moving day. If we bat really well on day four, we can give ourselves an opportunity, potentially, on day five."

Australia aiming to overcome history

History, though, is not on Australia's side.

No Australian team has ever won a Test in Asia after conceding a score of more than 450 in the first innings of the match, while a comeback from a first innings of 476 to win would be Australia's fourth-best fightback anywhere.

Adding to the challenge will be the fact there were signs of more spin and the pitch staying lower and slower on Saturday.

Reverse swing also began to feature with the pitch and outfield more abrasive, something Pakistan would be hopeful of capitalising on come Sunday.

Labuschagne said Australia need look no further than Azhar and Imal-ul-Haq for how to bat on the pitch, as they spent almost 87 overs together for a 205-run second-wicket stand.

"They both batted beautifully. They were patient, they didn't really give us anything," Labuschagne said.

"It's just being disciplined in your game and making sure you're staying focus for a long period of time."

Australia did have chances to break through.

They failed to review a caught behind Imam-ul-Haq edged on 143, before Pat Cummins had the ball reversing to trap him lbw in the following session.

Alex Carey also put down a chance off Nathan Lyon when Mohammad Rizwan was on zero when he was dropped before finishing on 29no.

On a day where the pitch offered little, Labuschagne claimed a direct-hit run-out to get captain Babar Azam on 36 before also having Azhar caught trying to reverse sweep late.

with AAP

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