Lunch - Pakistan 75 for 4 (Masood 32*, Rizwan 12*, Cummins 2-16) vs Australia
(Web Desk) – Australia captain Pat Cummins continued his stranglehold over Babar Azam with another mesmerising dismissal, as Pakistan's top order crashed on a placid SCG surface in the opening session of the third Test on Wednesday.
After Pakistan slumped to 47 for 4, captain Shan Masood and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan survived through to lunch.
Australia's quicks were once again excellent with Cummins continuing his spectacular series by adding the wicket of struggling No. 5 Saud Shakeel. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood also claimed a wicket each as they conjured swing with the new ball and sought a fuller length to devastating effect.
It was a bitter disappointment for Pakistan, who seemingly won an important toss and Masood had no hesitation to bat on a dry surface amid sunny conditions. After their painful 79-run defeat in the Boxing Day Test, having fought bravely and at times appearing close to causing an upset, Pakistan eyed a tonic in the form of a big first-innings total.
But Pakistan started the new year with their openers making ducks within the first eight deliveries of the match. Starc found sharp swing and on the second delivery of the innings he removed opener Abdullah Shafique, who drove loosely and produced a thick outside edge to second slip.
After a promising start to the series, Shafique has looked rattled ever since his costly drop at first slip of allrounder Mitchell Marsh on day three of the Boxing Day Test in what proved a significant moment.
It was a severe initiation for debutant Saim Ayub, who had hoped to spark the top order after replacing dour opener Imam-ul-Haq. But on his second delivery, Ayub could do little against a superb length delivery from Hazlewood and he nicked off.
The pressure fell on Babar, who had scored just 77 runs in four previous innings and fell to three stellar deliveries from Cummins and Hazlewood. He made a watchful start at the SCG before unfurling his trademark cover drive to the boundary and pounced on an increasingly wayward Starc.
Babar was feeling confident on a benign surface, but confronted Cummins who had dismissed him twice in brilliant fashion in Perth and Melbourne. Cummins added a third when a hooping in-swinger trapped Babar, who initially survived before the DRS overturned the decision after ball-tracking confirmed the ball to hit the leg stump.
Shakeel arrived in Australia having made an impressive start to his Test career, but his struggles in the series continued when he was hit on the helmet by Cummins before tamely poking a wide delivery to be caught behind.
Masood in the opening two Tests sought a proactive approach, especially against offspinner Nathan Lyon but reined in his attacking instincts given his team's predicament. Rizwan, who batted with dare in Melbourne after being recalled, decided to counterattack before lunch and smashed Hazlewood for a slog sweep into the crowd in a rare bright spot for Pakistan during a torrid first session.
Pakistan's bid for a consolation victory and to snap a 16-Test losing streak in Australia was made harder with spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi contentiously rested after a heavy workload in the opening two Tests. He was replaced by specialist spinner Sajid Khan, while Australia again named an unchanged line-up in opener David Warner's farewell to Test cricket.
The traditional New Year's Test in Sydney has been severely impacted by bad weather in recent years, but the forecast looks mostly clear through the match apart from in the afternoon on day two.
THE TOSS
Earlier, speaking after the toss, skipper Shan said: "Just how things are done at the SCG. Hopefully we can put in a good first innings score and then see how it plays. Very excited about Saim Ayub. We feel that he's one batter that's going to set the tone for Pakistan in terms of the batting unit going ahead. It looks pretty dry underneath the grass, so we might expect after day three for the pitch to be variable in terms of bounce. It might take a bit of spin, that's why we included Sajid Khan as well. Unfortunately Shaheen is resting."
Australian captain Cummins said: "Looks like a good wicket. The sun is out today. But that's fine. It's a short turnaround but everyone is in a good space and happy with how everyone is going. It's rare to play the same team three games in a row but it's nice."
Squad:
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (capt), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Sajid Khan, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamer Jamal
Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood. - Courtesy ESPNcricinfo