Watch: Steve Smith Forced To Fold Hands In Epic Banter With Babar Azam In Boxing Day Test

30.12.2023 - 04:43 sports.ndtv.com

Pat Cummins led from the front as Australia blew away Pakistan on Friday to win the second Test in Melbourne, while also taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three match series.

Australia captain Cummins bagged five wickets and 10 in the match as the hosts won by 79 runs after an extended final session on Day 4.

The lanky pacer struck three times after Tea, before Mitchell Starc took two wickets in as many balls to wrap up Pakistan's innings.

Chasing a target of 317, Pakistan captain Shan Masood scored a quickfire 60, while Agha Salman (50) and Babar Azam (41) gave them a fighting chance.

cricket Australia Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Team IPL 2024 Test watch Pat Cummins Mitchell Starc Steve Smith Josh Hazlewood Babar Azam Steven Smith Shan Masood Australia Pakistan county Hand

Former Australia captain Kim Hughes has hit out at the team management for elevating star batter Steve Smith to the opener's role following David Warner's Test retirement. Warner played his last Test earlier this month against Pakistan in Sydney as Australia swept the series 3-0. While Western Australia's Cameron Bancroft made a strong case for himself to replace Warner, the Australian team management announced that Smith will be opening the innings with Usman Khawaja, starting with a two-match series against West Indies later this week.

Watch: Babar Azam Goes Up Against Azam Khan On Field, The Result Is...

Star batter Babar Azam on Sunday smashed his second half-century in as many games but Pakistan went down against New Zealand in the second T20I in Hamilton. Babar, who hit 57 in the series-opener in Auckland, smashed 66 off just 43 balls, but couldn't guide his team to a win at the Seddon Park as New Zealand took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Babar, who recently stepped down from captaincy across formats, however, enjoyed his time in the middle with the bat, smashing seven boundaries and two sixes.

'Selectors Didn't Take Me Seriously': Steve Smith On His Idea To Replace David Warner As Opener

Star Australia batter Steve Smith opined that his team did not take him seriously when he told them that he wanted to move to the top of the batting order after David Warner's retirement. Smith said today that looking at himself as an opener for the first time in a 13-year Test career first came to his mind while playing against England during last year's Ashes series when Warner first gave signs of his potential retirement from the longest format of the game.

"Don't Really Like Waiting To Bat": Steve Smith On Playing As An Opener

Australian batter Steve Smith stated that the reason he moved to the opening spot following David Warner's retirement is simple, that he does not like to wait for his batting. Out of many incumbent players like Travis Head, the white-ball opener, Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh, who has also opened in white-ball cricket, Smith put his hands up and offered to move to the very top of the batting line-up. This new look line-up will start its journey without Warner during the two-match Test series against West Indies from January 17 onwards at Adelaide.

Watch: David Warner Sledges 'Fidgety' Steve Smith, Australia Star Gets Out First Ball

Australia batter David Warner, fresh from his retirement from Test cricket, returned to action in the Big Bash League (BBL) on Friday for the Sydney Smash between Thunder and Sixers. Warner arrived at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in a helicopter, having played his last Test at the same venue earlier this month. Warner's Australia teammate Steve Smith was in the dugout for the Sixers, who had won the last four meeting between the two sides prior to Friday's game at the SCG. As the Sixers were asked to bat first by the Thunder, the former Australia captain had an interesting little exchange with each other.

"Pakistan Fielding" Memes Flood Social Media, Thanks To Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed's Dropped Chances

Putting the horror show in Australia behind them, Pakistan reached New Zealand with the hopes of redeeming themselves in the 5-match T20I series. As Shaheen Afridi and his team looked to pile pressure with the ball, the fielders, including former skipper Babar Azam helped little in the fielding, dropping chance after chance. First, it was Babar who dropped an easy catch involving New Zealand's Kane Williamson, later it was Iftikhar Ahmed who gave the dangerous Daryl Mitchell a lifeline.