Brilliant Babar blunts Australia as Pakistan hold on for thrilling draw

Babar Azam’s batting brilliance, video vagaries and some fielding flops thwarted Australia in a gripping drawn second Test against Pakistan. Spinner Nathan Lyon took three wickets in the last 13 overs, but the Australians fell three wickets shy of their first ever Test triumph in Karachi.

Chasing 506 runs to win, Babar made a heroic 196 and Mohammad Rizwan a superb 104 not out as Pakistan finished on 443 for seven. The series remains nil-nil going into the third and final Test in Lahore, which starts on Monday.

Babar blunted Australia’s bowlers in a 425-ball epic, posting the highest-ever score by a captain in the fourth innings of a Test. But the skipper’s gallant resistance ended when dismissed by Lyon with 12.2 overs remaining.

Next ball, Lyon removed Faheem Ashraf for a golden duck to revive Australian hopes of a last-gasp win. Lyon’s hat-trick ball was defended by Sajid Khan but the rapid strikes left Australia needing four more wickets in a dozen overs with the third new ball.

With 49 balls remaining, Lyon snared another wicket when Sajid was caught at slip. Then, with 19 balls left, Usman Khawaja at cover dropped a dolly of a catch from Rizwan’s bat. And with eight balls to go, a diving Rizwan, on 99, just returned to his crease after advancing to Lyon, who threw down the stumps.

Rizwan registered his ton from the next ball and then negotiated four balls from the final over, before Australian captain Pat Cummins called a halt with victory impossible.

Cummins’ tactics – extending his team’s first innings into day three, not enforcing the follow-on and batting 35 minutes into day four when 489 runs ahead – are certain to provoke debate. But Cummins still left his team 178 overs to bowl out the hosts. And Australia