Ricky Ponting's savage act in commentary as Pakistan ripped over ugly scenes in Test

Pakistan's efforts in the field left much to be desired on the opening day of the first Test against Australia on Thursday, and Ricky Ponting was all-too happy to rub it in. The tourists' bowlers failed to fire early as David Warner and Usman Khawaja put on a century opening stand, and they missed a number of catching chances.

Khawaja was given a lifeline on 21 when Shafique Abdullah dropped a difficult chance while running back towards the boundary from first slip. But that wasn't nearly as bad as debutant Khurram Shahzad's effort when Warner was on 108.

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The Aussie veteran hit the ball straight down Abdullah's throat at long on, but the bowler's feet appeared to be stuck to the ground and failed to reach high enough to take the catch. He was then seen practicing jumping immediately after, prompting a savage one-liner from Ponting.

“You see him practising it now. It’s too late now, champ. Way too late,” Ponting said on Channel 7 with a laugh.

Mark Waugh said on Fox Cricket: “That was regulation, on any level of cricket, park cricket, under-10s. It looked like the first catch he’s ever tried to take. You can’t do that. Not against any team, let alone Australia.”

Warner went on to make 164 after another reprieve from Sarfaraz Ahmed when the wicket-keeper missed a stumping chance. The Aussies went on to finish at 5-346 at stumps, with Pakistan bouncing back to snare key scalps of Steve Smith, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne relatively cheaply.

But the tone was set early when captain Shan Masood made a meal of a regulation effort while fielding and allowed the Aussies to get a run. “That can be very frustrating for a bowler, especially early on in a Test match,” Pakistan legend Wasim Akram said on Fox Cricket. “Third delivery went straight to the skipper, who misjudged it and gave a single away.”

Mike Hussey added: “It’s obviously regrettable and as captain you’d be disappointed with that...you want to set the standards right from the word go. But it happens. And it shouldn’t define the whole day. He’s not the one out there bowling the balls. He’s not the one dropping catches."

Pakistan confident of bouncing back in first Test

Warner's innings put the Aussies in the box seat and left Pakistan with an uphill battle to win their first Test on Australian soil since 1995. But debutant paceman Aamir Jamal, who snared 2-63 off 12 overs, isn't giving up hope.

"The second (new) ball has been taken and both of the bowlers are bowling well," Jamal said at stumps. "We are planning to get them out in the first hour of the morning.

"I think both batsmen are going after the ball. They're playing their shots, they can't resist against the bowling. So if they're going after us, we might get them out in the early hour."

Jamal admitted the first day would have been very different if Pakistan took all their chances. "If we could have grabbed them, we could have been on top of the game," he said. "But we are still in the game I believe."

with AAP

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