SYDNEY: Danish Kaneria and Umar Gul bowled Pakistan within striking distance of a rare and much-needed win over Australia in their second Test in spite of a series of dropped catches here at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
Kaneria overcame an unconvincing start to the day by picking up 4-117 as a fired-up Umar Gul compensated for his below-par showing in the first innings with 3-62 that included the key scalps of Shane Watson (97) and Ricky Ponting (11).
Trailing by 206 runs, Australia squandered a perfect start to end the day at 286-8, just 80 runs ahead of Pakistan and needing a miracle to avoid what would be their first defeat against Pakistan in almost 15 years.
Watson, who fell in the nineties for the third time this summer, revived Aussie hopes when he shared a 105-run opening stand with Phillip Hughes (37) but Pakistan came back strongly, especially in the post-tea session, to bag five wickets for just 69 runs. Michael Hussey rode on his luck to end the day at 73, sharing an unbeaten ninth-wicket stand of 29 with Peter Siddle (10) as the duo saw off the last 41 minutes to keep the hosts alive. Pakistan returned to their erratic ways, letting the Australians off the hook through some poor fielding. Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was the biggest culprit as he dropped three catches and also missed an easy run-out.
Akmal dropped Hussey thrice off Kaneria at 27, 45 and 52.
Kaneria was almost as poor as he was unable to hold on to two catches, first spilling Watson at the fine leg boundary off Gul and then dropping the opener off his bowling. Having failed to pile up a huge lead through some bad shot selection, Pakistan needed some tight fielding to ensure a comfortable win but were unable to give the sort of showing which helped them bowl out the Aussies for just 127. Watson made the most of those lapses as he was dropped on 18 and 71 and also survived on 48 when the Akmal wasted a perfect opportunity to run him out.
Earlier in the morning, Pakistan could add just two more runs to their overnight total as Doug Bollinger got Kaneria in the first over of the day, the tail-ender trying to go for the maximum only to spoon it towards Hussey.
Trailing by 206 runs, Australia almost lost Watson in the first over when an incoming delivery found an inside edge and missed the opener’s leg stump by a few millimeters. Watson was the more attacking of the two openers but rode on his luck to reach his third fifty of the series after scoring 93 and 120 (not out) in the opening Test in Melbourne. He reached his 1000 runs in Test cricket with a pull shot at deep fine leg where Kaneria failed to catch the ball on the boundary and later said that it came to him like a “bullet”. Hughes, who fell for a duck in the first innings, played more cautiously to help take Australia to lunch at 86-0 in 29 overs. He was the first to go when Kaneria took a brilliant, left-handed catch off his own bowling. The wicket gave Kaneria, who seemed a bit rusty after missing the Melbourne Test because of an injured finger, a big boost.
But it was Gul, who brought the tourists back in control, with a couple of strikes that rocked Australia. The pacer finally found his form and some swing to get rid of Ponting with one that swung away and Faisal Iqbal took a brilliant catch in the slips.
Watson fell to a good delivery that rose up on him and gave Faisal an easy catch. Australia were now 159-3, still 47 runs behind, and in desperate need of a partnership. Hussey and Michael Clarke tried to steady the innings and erase the lead with a 68-run stand. But Clarke (21) was trapped lbw by Asif and Pakistan was celebrating again.
Kaneria, extracting some good turn from the pitch, then scalped Marcus North (2) and Brad Haddin (15) cheaply to reduce the hosts to 246-6 in the 75th over. But his best wicket of the day came two overs later when Kaneria shattered the stumps of Mitchell Johnson (3) with a superb googly.
When Misbah-ul-Haq caught Nathan Hauritz (4) brilliantly off Gul, it seemed as if it was all over for Australia. But the seasoned Hussey farmed the strike and received good support from Siddle to ensure that the Aussies live to fight for another day.
