Brief Score: Pakistan 570-6 dec and 293-3 dec; Australia 261 and 246
Pakistan achieved a historic victory over Australia in 20 years with a thumping 356-run win in the second Test in Abu Dhabi on Monday (3 Nov. 2014).
The 2-0 series win has boosted Pakistan to number three on the ICC world rankings – a position they fully deserve after two Tests of near-perfect cricket.
Pakistan had taken a big step forward after scoring a mammoth 570-6 declared in their first innings and getting a 309-run lead by dismissing Australia for 261. The huge score never allowed Australia to stage a comeback and avoid series defeat for the first time since losing 1-0 in Pakistan in 1994.
Despite a resilient morning session in which Pakistan only managed one wicket, Australia’s batsmen fell to pieces after the break, losing the remaining five wickets for just eight runs and in 42 balls.
The winning margin of 356 runs is the largest in Pakistan’s history by runs margin alone, while it sits as Australia’s third-worst loss.
Misbah-ul-Haq was named the man of the match after scoring hundreds in each innings, including the equal-fastest ton in Test history, while Younis Khan’s incredible Test performance with 468 runs in two Tests won him man of the series award.
Australian captain Michael Clarke praised Pakistan while acknowledging the failings of his own team. “(Pakistan) played outstanding cricket in both Test and we have been outplayed,” Clarke said at the post-match ceremony. “Unfortunately, all three facets failed. We weren’t good enough.”
Pakistan team captain Misbah said the feeling of beating Australia in such a fashion was indescribable. “It’s an honour for me to lead this side, the way everybody played,” Misbah said. “Every individual performed and I’m really happy about that. I can’t describe my feeling.
Australia’s post-lunch collapse
Pakistan has beaten Australia by 356 runs in the second Test to seal a 2-0 sweep of the series after Australia’s batsmen crumbled after lunch on the final day.
All ten of Australia’s second-innings wickets fell to spin bowlers as Zulfiqar Babr (5 for 120), Yasir Shah (3 for 44) and Mohammad Hafeez (2 for 38) continued their complete dominance of Australia’s batsmen.
Pakistan’s spinners sign off on Australia’s humiliation
According to Cricinfo Report by Daniel Brettig, “Twenty years of Pakistan defeats at Australian hands were erased in little more than 20 minutes. The last five wickets belonging to Michael Clarke’s befuddled team tumbled for eight runs in 46 balls after lunch, rather summing up the gulf between the two sides in a series Australia had expected to win.
Instead it was Misbah-ul-Haq’s team that was triumphant, not just beating Australia but totally obliterating them. The Abu Dhabi result was Pakistan’s biggest ever victory by runs. In terms of average differential this was the widest margin in all Test series yet played. Australia have the Ashes, but that’s all.
The final spoils were rightly shared by Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah, the little-known spin duo which did not merely cover for Saeed Ajmal’s absence but took advantage of it.
Other garlands were rightfully saved for Younis Khan, the prolific and cultured runmaker who built the wall Australia’s bowlers were never anywhere near tearing down. Then there was the captain Misbah, who showed total composure throughout the series before giving free rein to his skills with the equal-fastest Test century of all time.
