David Warner's brutal act as teenage rival's sledging backfires

David Warner had the perfect response to some sledging from Naseem Shah as Australia fought their way back into the first Test against Pakistan.

Australia have set their sights on turning the Rawalpindi run-fest into a contest after reaching 2-271 at stumps on a shortened day three in reply to Pakistan's 4-476.

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With bat dominating ball in near-record fashion on Sunday, Usman Khawaja narrowly missed out on a century in his first match in his country of birth with a brilliant 97.

Warner also struck 68 as part of a 156-run opening stand between the pair, while Marnus Labuschagne was 69 not out when bad light and then rain ended play.

Warner had a running battle with teen speedster Shah, with the paceman offering some choice words to the Australian opener after striking him on the body a number of times.

However Warner's response was absolutely savage, laughing in Shah's face and simply patting his rival on the shoulder for his efforts.

On the second occasion, Warne also picked up the ball and handed it to Shah while once again laughing at him.

"This is brilliant," commentator Mike Haisman said of Warner laughing at Shah.

Fans were also quick to point out Warne's brutal response on social media.

Run-fest continues in Pakistan as Aussies fight back

As a show of how much bat has ruled ball on the first three days, the average runs scored per wicket now sits at 124.5 - on track to be the second highest of all-time.

Steve Smith was unbeaten alongside Labuschagne on 24, with the pair 32 runs short of the fifth hundred-run partnership of the match.

Both sides face an uphill battle to force a result on the flat wicket, but Australia's run-rate of 3.71 on the third day has at least given them a chance to follow their plan of grabbing a lead and applying pressure on day five.

"Tomorrow is another big day for us. If we can bat well and keep scoring runs and give ourselves an opportunity, maybe," Khawaja said.

"But you have to respect Test cricket.

"If you get too far ahead of yourself ... things happen very quickly and then you're back in the field."

If Australia were to pull off an unlikely win, it would mark their greatest comeback after conceding so many runs in the first innings since Shane Warne engineered an Ashes Test win in Adelaide in 2006.

Meanwhile, Pakistan know breaking the partnership of Labuschagne and Smith is key if they want to force a result.

"The wicket continues to suit the batters, but hopefully with the new ball soon there will be a chance for bowlers to make an impression," Sajid Khan said.

with AAP

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