Perth, Nov 27: Any hopes that Pakistan might
have entertained of salvaging something from
this final Test diminished rapidly as the
match progressed on the second day
A Jalil28-Nov-1999Perth, Nov 27: Any hopes that Pakistan might
have entertained of salvaging something from
this final Test diminished rapidly as the
match progressed on the second day.Parading his unquestionable prowess for the
first time in this series, Ricky Ponting
struck a test career best 197 as he and Justin
Langer, resuming their overnight stand put the
game beyond Pakistan. In the process they put
together the highest partnership for any
wicket between the two countries. The fact
that from Langer’s eventual dismissal for an
innings-reviving 144 until the last wicket
fell on 451, Australia had lost six for 70
mattered little as the door had already been
shut on Pakistan.Pakistan have been totally outplayed during
the two days of this Test. Their batsmen have
not been able to cope with Australia’s attack
on the fast, bouncy pitch and the bowlers have
been flogged. Despite Pakistan having arguably
the world’s best bowling attack, it has
largely been ineffective. It had been muted by
the strips in Brisbane, in the first Test, and
Hobart in the second.Here too it has made little impression in the
first innings and it can be said with a degree
of confidence that it will not be given much
of an opportunity the second time round as in
all probability Australia will not need to bat
much then, if at all.Save for Saqlain Mushtaq’s 6 for 46 spell in
Hobart, the bowling has largely been quite
innocuous. Despite all the fanfare about his
tilt at the 100mph mark, Shoaib Akhtar had
only five wickets at an average of 66 after
the first two Tests and now, in Perth, he has
added one more victim to his name. Skipper
Wasim Akram also has been unspectacular by his
lofty standards. He has five in the series at
56.00.Mohammad Akram’s 5 for 138 was an excellent
effort but the lack of penetration in
Pakistan’s bowling generally has been
ruthlessly exposed by the two centurions of
Australia today. The pace bowlers fell into
the common trap of bowling too short on the
world’s quickest strip.Mohammad Akram’s fine performance was somewhat
blemished by the severe reprimand from the
match referee John Reid. His clash with Shane
Warne during the latter part of Australia’s
innings, was deemed by the referee to be
“intentional and, more importantly,
avoidable”. As it happened, it wasn’t a huge
incident. Akram had stuck an elbow out and
made contact with Warne as he ran for a single
off Akram’s bowling.A statement issued by the match referee after
the disciplinary hearing said that Akram had
“apologised and showed a sense of remorse for
his actions” which happened in the heat of the
moment.Shane Warne himself has been surrounded by
controversy over his remarks about a teammate. Pace bowler Scott Muller who played in
the first two Tests against Pakistan (making
his Test debut), has been upset that his
senior team-mate (Warne) was heard to say that
he “can’t bowl, can’t throw”. The slur, made
on the field during the second Test in Hobart,
was picked up by the television microphones
and heard publicly. It had resulted from an
inaccurate throw by Muller from the out-field.It is felt that the remark reveals a crack in
the team spirit. Warne denies making offending
comment but the matter has caused a great
uproar and the Australian Cricket Board has
been quite concerned that it should not create
a rift within the team.
