In the modern era, the spectre of the batting collapse has haunted the Australia Test team like the ghost of Christmas past. It’s not just the Cape Town 47 or the Trent Bridge 60 or the Hobart 85. There are plenty of less memorable slumps that have filled the gaps between those centrepiece debacles. Not just the 10 for 92 in Johannesburg or the 10 for 50 in Cape Town that were the mark of a broken team earlier this year. There was last year’s eight for 86 in Chittagong against Bangladesh, or in India the seven for 50 in Dharamsala and the 10 for 90 in Bengaluru. Before South Africa’s 2016 hit job in Hobart, they had already knocked over 10 Australia wickets in Perth for 86. Or earlier that year in Sri Lanka, Australia lost a whole side for the addition of 83 in Colombo and 106 in Galle. Or before the famous Ashes rout at Trent Bridge in 2015, there was being bowled out for 136 at Edgbaston. There are more, but I won’t keep throwing numbers. Except to say that losing the entire batting side after a good opening partnership is a popular variant. Cape Town in 2018 was one. Port Elizabeth in 2014, when a stand of 126 was followed by 10 for 90. Or Port Elizabeth 2018, when no wicket fell for 98 before they all fell for another 145. As such, losing 10 for 60 in Dubai is just part of a rich tradition. Losing 10 for 60 after an opening stand of 142 made it a standout example of that tradition. In fact, no Australia team had ever lost 10 wickets so cheaply after a century opening stand. A little extra lustre to the jewel in the tiara. On its first outing, this new-look Australia side conformed seamlessly to the tendencies of the old. Six wickets for the Pakistan debutant Bilal Asif, with his fascinating wristy off-breaks. Zero runs for the Australia debutants Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, both dismissed by Bilal. “That’s luck,” he said with a shrug and a smile after play. Pity the poor opening batsmen who do the hard work and get let down. The third debutant Aaron Finch made 62, Usman Khawaja 85, before things fell apart. Of course decorum and team environment demands they succumb to outrageous politeness, in the style of a person who apologises to you after you stand on their foot. “I probably left us hanging there only getting 60,” Finch told Wisden’s radio broadcast after play. “If I go on and get 140, 150, and Ussie does the same, we’re probably in a different situation.” But really it was the same issue with Australia sides who can’t find a way to hold it together when things get tough. For two days, Pakistan’s batsmen were singing Radiohead lyrics: no alarms and no surprises. They never dominated the run rate but dominated occupation. They built their imposing 482 through patience, knowing the pitch contained no demons. Australia faced quality bowling from practitioners more accustomed to the conditions but nonetheless it was never impossible. Finch and Khawaja had batted through a mini-session the previous evening, then the entire morning session of day three, adding 107 runs into the bargain. Finch lofted the ball when spinners pitched full, and cut or pulled when short, but mostly concentrated on working it around and sweating through his shirt as he ran up and down. Khawaja had a few slips in concentration and a dose of luck, but mostly held admirable focus, moving around the crease to defend against the spinners, and releasing pressure against the seamers. Their strengths brought both undone. Pakistan brought in a short straight mid-off and mid-on given Finch’s liking for a firm straight drive, and he thumped the seamer Mohammad Abbas firmly at ankle height to the latter for Asad Shafiq to take a smart catch. Khawaja nailed a sweep from Bilal, then lost concentration for a second and followed the same action to a shorter ball. He was standing upright, never in position, so it became an awkward lap shot whose top edge landed with leg slip. Shaun Marsh had come and gone, promoted to first drop to take responsibility as the senior batsman, then lashing at an off-break to give Shafiq a slip catch and Bilal his first Test wicket. With Marsh and Khawaja in his pocket, Bilal wanted a full set. All eight of the deliveries that Head faced came from the off-spinner, who forced the batsman forward and back, beat his edge twice, and had the field set to stifle his attempts to score. After making Head play at seven straight balls, Bilal turned one a fraction wider, and Head’s desperate lash was edged to a diving Haris Sohail at second slip. His bendy wrist imparts a huge amount of overspin on the ball, giving him bounce as well as turn, enough to have Labuschagne glove his second ball to short leg. Bilal’s fifth came with a faint edge off captain Tim Paine to bat-pad, while Abbas turned in a skilful spell tailored for dry conditions, at the stumps with a hint of reverse, to trap Mitchell Marsh, bowl Peter Siddle, and nick off Mitchell Starc. Nathan Lyon gave Bilal a final bonus by slapping to square leg. Three ducks, seven single-figure scores, and a high score of 12: such was the effort from the nine batsmen after the openers. Even extras managed to scrape together 13. The total was 202, the deficit 280, and even though Australia nabbed three wickets at the cost of 45 runs by stumps, with two days to play they had left themselves no way back into the game. Whether the partisan reaction was delight or disappointment, the feeling for those around the Australia team and those who support it was all too familiar. Equally familiar was the bewilderment about why this keeps happening, and what can be done.<doc-sep>AUSTRALIA VS PAKISTAN IN UAE, 2018 Live Cricket Score of Pakistan vs Australia, 1st Test, Day 5 by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on Live Score Updates Australia 202-10 & 362-8 (139.5 Ovs) Tim Paine 61 (194) Pakistan 482-10 & 181-6 dec Yasir Shah 43.5-9-114-4 Match drawn Live Scores Full Scorecard Travis Head scored a gutsy fifty in the chase. © Getty Test cricket at its best Paine pulls it off! There was a fist pump after he played out the penultimate delivery following which Sarfraz had enough. The players shake hands and leave the field. What a monumental effort after batting almost 140 overs. They were dead and buried at one stage before Khawaja and Head rescued them but a loss again looked imminent when Yasir struck thrice in the final session before Paine and Lyon held forte. Top-notch umpiring It's not easy to get everything right in these circumstances but you got to credit the umpires for making those right tight calls under pressure. Another one in the penultimate over has kept Australia in the game. Two overs left If Lyon can manage to bat out this penultimate over, Australia know they will go onto save this Test since Paine will be playing the final over. Damn! What a gripping Test match! 24 balls left now Got to give it to Lyon. He has batted out 22 balls. It's not been easy for him. He has had 4 or 5 fielders around him, intimidating him but he has been strong. Australia need to survive for four more overs. Nervy over Paine is surviving. There was an inside edge that missed the leg stump by a whisker and then there was a close shout for lbw. But the umpire's decision was top notch. Had he given it out, it would have been harsh on Australia as the ball clearly went down leg. Remember, both teams have exhausted their reviews. Six overs left now. Fifty for Paine Applause around the ground as Paine helps himself to a fifty. What a gutsy effort this from the Australian captain. 45 balls left to bat out though. That's what he will be thinking about. Eight overs left As expected, Abbas was brought into the attack but he kept erring in his line which helped Lyon to see through one over. Can Australia still manage to pull it off? Very tough but not impossible! Another one Wow, Yasir has bounced back to life! Where have you been until now? He traps Siddle plumb in front to pick up his fourth wicket. Australia are crumbling. This was always on the cards. They just needed one wicket to open the floodgates and you got to say that Pakistan are favourites to win this contest. Against Yasir and Abbas, hard to see the Australian tail wagging. Stunning What a catch at short leg by Babar Azam! Yasir is weaving his magic. Starc tried to defend one but my word Babar just dived full length instantly to his right and took an absolute stunner. This could well be a match-winning fielding effort. Peter Siddle has walked out to bat. Pakistan need three wickets to win from 77 balls. Timely strike Pakistan are not out of this yet. What a time to strike! Khawaja has been sweeping and reverse sweeping so well but this time he fails to connect bat on ball. As a result, he perishes. Impact was on line and the ball was going to hit the stumps. The review has been wasted too. 14.3 overs left now. Mitchell Starc has come out. Can Pakistan take these four wickets for a dramatic win? All hopes rest on Paine. 15 overs left Time is running out. Paine might have had his issues at the start of the innings but now he is totally settled. He has batted 150 deliveries in this innings so far and it looks like Australia will be escaping with a draw unless we witness a massive twist. 19 overs left The clock is ticking. It's time to count these overs now as we enter that territory. An exciting territory I must add. Pakistan look tired. But they should keep their hopes alive. They know one wicket in the next 20 minutes can make a difference. The ball is reversing and spinners are posing questions every now and then even though the pitch hasn't turned into a minefield. Waste of a review Pakistan are desperate. Time is running out. Australia have 72 more minutes to bat out in order to escape with a draw. So they challenge the umpire's decision for lbw against Paine but there was a massive inside edge. Pakistan do not have any reviews left. Fifty-run stand Paine whips one on the leg side for his second boundary of the innings. He is batting on 27 off 92. This is perhaps the most vital knock of his Test career. And now he brings up the fifty-run partnership with Khawaja. 20 minutes gone in the final session. It's official now Wow Tea - Australia 289/5 Top stuff from Australia. They lost the wickets of Paine and Labuschagne in this session and that did cause concerns in the camp but the skipper has been resilient alongside Khawaja. It still requires a massive effort to bat out the final session but you never know. Update The commentators just informed that Imam has actually fractured his finger. With the teams having just four days to recover before the second Test, it is unlikely he will play. That's a blow for Pakistan. Can Imam recover? Has he dislocated his finger? Imam-ul-Haq is seen in the dressing room with his finger plastered. He batted really well in this Test match. He would be gutted if he doesn't recover in time. Meanwhile, in this Test, Australia are eight minutes away from going into the Tea break with no further damage. Chance Paine initially called Khawaja for a quick single and immediately turned it down. Khawaja was late in going back and had the throw found the stumps, it would have been curtains. That's the last thing Australia need right now.<doc-sep>MIKE Hussey has hailed Usman Khawaja for his “incredible” innings against Pakistan and praised Australia’s performance in the first Test as typifying coach Justin Langer’s “never-say-die attitude”. Playing its first Test since March’s spiteful tour of South Africa that was rocked by the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal, Australia battled to the most remarkable of draws in Dubai. Set an improbable target of 462 to win across the final day and a half, Australia saw out 139.5 overs to survive with two wickets in hand. “They had a mountain to climb,” Hussey told foxsports.com.au. “They showed amazing resilience and spirit to fight their way through that last day and lot of credit has to go to the players “This Australian team wants to earn respect back on the world stage through their behaviour and their spirit and the way they play the game, but also with their results and their skill. “They went a long way to earning back some respect through day five’s performance.” It’s cricket like never before. Every Australia home Test, ODI, T20I Match LIVE and ad-break free. SIGN UP TODAY! The Dubai Test was the first under the leadership duo of captain Tim Paine and coach Justin Langer, and Langer compared the performance to Australia’s famous win over Pakistan in 1999. That Test saw Langer make 127 in a 238-run stand that saw the hosts chase down 369. Hussey, who played alongside Langer at Western Australia, said the coach’s fingertips were all over last week’s performance. “It typifies the character of a Justin Langer,” he said. “He was quite often a back-to-the-wall type of player. Tough and uncompromising with a never-give-up attitude and that’s the way the team played in the back half of this game.” MACGILL: The ‘landmark moment’ that will change Australian cricket BURNING QUESTIONS:Usman’s Asia doubters, batting order reshuffle? ‘THE LANGER EFFECT’: Waugh hails Australia’s ‘greatest ever’ escape ROTATION: Australia weighs up Starc dilemma Usman Khawaja scored 226 runs for the match. Source: AFP No player exemplified that attitude more than Khawaja. Taking a Test average of 14.62 in Asia into the match, Khawaja notched his first ever half-century on the continent in the first innings (85) before making 141 in the game’s final chapter to help secure the draw. The left-hander spent roughly 27 hours in the field in a week where temperatures hovered at 38 degrees Celsius. It’s an effort Hussey – who one faced 276 deliveries in a Test in Bengaluru – has described as “incredible.” “When you’re tired that’s when errors start to happen, mental errors and skill errors,” Hussey said. “He was able to keep his concentration levels up extremely high throughout the whole Test match really which is an incredible effort really and takes great mental strength.” Hussey: Usman Khawaja was able to keep his concentration levels up extremely high throughout the whole Test match really which is an incredible effort Source: AFP One of Australia’s finest ever players of spin, Hussey was particularly impressed by Khawaja’s handling of Yasir Shah and believes the 31-year-old found a level of self-assuredness that had not been there on previous tours of Asia. “He looks more in control, more composed and calmer at the crease. In the past he’s looked a bit hurried, a bit flustered and a bit tense, which is not really his personality, he’s normally a really relaxed guy. “In both innings he just looked in control, never hurried, never rushed. The way he played Yasir was a real standout. Yasir Shah is one of the best bowlers in the world and he had no answers (for Khawaja) for long periods of time.” Hussey: Yasir Shah had no answers for Usman Khawaja for long periods of time. Source: Getty Images Khawaja was not the only man to impress in the second innings, with Travis Head and Tim Paine both scoring crucial half-centuries. Both men misfired in Australia’s first dig, in which the tourists lost ten for 60 after a 142-run opening stand between Khawaja and Aaron Finch. That collapse culminated in Langer taking his left-hander’s out for a pitch side debrief after day three. Hussey believes the success Australia’s middle-order had in the second-innings was as much down to mindset as it was technique. “They were just a bit tighter. Pakistan was looking for errors and Australia fell into that trap in the first innings. In the second they were much more patient, much more disciplined. They had some luck along the way, which you have to have, but they certainly played more high percentage shots.” Justin Langer debriefed with his left-handers after day three. Source: Getty Images Two men who didn’t enjoy such luck were Marsh brothers Shaun and Mitchell. The senior Marsh brother paid the price for chasing a ball outside off in the first innings to fall for seven, before a brilliant bit of reverse swing knocked him over for a duck in the second. Mitch Marsh meanwhile was trapped lbw in both innings (12 and 0). Hussey says it is not time to start panicking over their performances. “It’s just the way it goes on the subcontinent, there are going to be days where you miss out. It’s really hard to start and unfortunately there are going to be players that get out cheaply. You see it all the time. Even the other guys that did score runs, they might have had a little bit of luck early in their innings and happened to get away with it. “As long as Mitch and Shaun continue to stick to their plans and they keep backing themselves than I have no doubt that they will be fine.”<doc-sep>Australia will aim for its first series win in Asia since 2011 when it takes on Pakistan in the second Test in Abu Dhabi. PAKISTAN v Australia, second Test, day two — AUSTRALIA s suffered yet another shocking collapse in its first innings at Abu Dhabi, with a shocking run-out for Marnus Labuschagne adding salt to the wounds. Australia was bowled out for 145 after Labuschagne was caught napping at the non-striker’s end, failing to ground his bat when Yasir Shah deflected a Mitchell Starc drive onto the stumps. Pakistan went to stumps at 2-144 in its second innings after being bowled out for 282 the first time around, leading by 281. Pakistan lost Mohammad Hafeez (6) to Starc while Nathan Lyon took a stunning reflex catch off his own bowling to account for Fakhar Zaman (66). Join our live blog at the bottom of the page! It’s cricket like never before. Every Australia home Test, ODI, T20I Match LIVE and ad-break free. SIGN UP TODAY! Join our live blog at the bottom of the page! READ MORE ULTIMATE GUIDE: Everything you need to know about the series AUSTRALIA’S ‘INCREDIBLE RESILIENCE’ TYPIFIES LANGER: HUSSEY ‘ATTACK!’: MACGILL’S ADVICE FOR AUSSIE BOWLERS Join our live blog at the bottom of the page! Mohammad Abbas was the best of Pakistan’s bowlers, removing Usman Khawaja (3), Peter Siddle (4), Shaun Marsh (3), Travis Head (14) and Mitchell Starc (34) to complete a five-wicket haul, while Bilal Asif took 3-23. Teams Australia XI: Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitch Marsh, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Tim Paine (c), Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Matt Renshaw (12th man) Pakistan XI:Mohammad Hafeez, Fakhar Zaman, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (c, wk), Yasir Shah, Bilal Asif, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas Tap here if you cannot see the blog below!<doc-sep>
A few days on from the feats of resistance by Usman Khawaja and Tim Paine in Dubai, some of are still digesting the significance of that draw. Michael Atherton holds the record for the most time spent batting in the final innings to save a Test, in his bloody-minded masterpiece of resistance against the ferocity of Allan Donald’s South Africa back in 1995. It was the only such innings longer than Khawaja’s. No Australian team in Asia had ever batted as long to save a game. We knew we had a classic on our hands by halfway through that last day. We could feel it building, the tension and duration stretching out unbearably. The resolution was cathartic. But the numerical magnitude took a while longer to appreciate, as did the feeling that the Australian team had given home supporters something to be proud of, not just in terms of on-field feats but the conduct in achieving them. Still, Australia’s captain Tim Paine doesn’t want to play up the significance of the result, or the non-result. In fact he played it right down, gesturing to teammates after he defended the final ball in Dubai that they should keep a lid on their celebrations. For his rationale, he cited comments from England’s 2005 Ashes captain in a documentary about that series, when the fact that Australia heartily celebrated a draw at Old Trafford led Michael Vaughan to believe that his team had the visitors on the ropes. It’s a hard-marking approach from Paine: sure, it was one of the greatest escapes in the game’s history, but if they hadn’t lost 10 for 60 in the first innings then such an escape wouldn’t have been necessary. In the second Test, Australia are here in Abu Dhabi to win. This team are desperate to take a series in Asia, a fallow region since a victory over Sri Lanka in 2011. The current group is charged up and confident. The question of course is how they should go about it, especially when the pitch two days out from the Test was a shock of emerald green. By one day out, it had been shaved back, but there was still a thick thatch covering the middle section, and some grass remaining on a fuller length at one end. Not that it’s a seamer’s paradise, but it gave hope there would be something more for the bowlers than the immutable block in Dubai. “Sometimes over here looks can be deceiving,” Paine told Wisden’s radio broadcast. “I think it’ll still be good for batting, and I suspect it’ll turn again late in the game.” But playing three quicks was “certainly an option”, he said. “We’ll have a good look at the wicket again this afternoon. We know we’ve got some good options if we wanted to make changes, but we also think the guys who played last week acquitted themselves well and will be better for the run.” Paine made a particular point of backing his left-arm spinner Jon Holland, the obvious bowler who would make way, and sympathised with the lot of any second spinner for Australia. “It’d be a lot of pressure knowing you might get one Test, you might get two, and then it’s back to Australia where traditionally we play one spinner. I think for Jon it’s about trying to relax as much as he can and not try too hard, which is easier said than done. “I thought he bowled reasonably well at times, at times not so well. He knows he can get a little bit better, but he’s also now had that Test under his belt. He knows that the Pakistan players are probably going to attack him more than they have our other bowlers, so it’s just about him having a plan and being able to counter it.” So an unchanged line-up is likely. Pakistan will ring changes though: the highly attacking opening batsman Fakhar Zaman will make his debut after smashing a double-century in a one-day game a couple of months ago and after winning the player of the series gong in a T20 tri-series with Australia in Zimbabwe in July. His Test opportunity comes courtesy of a broken finger for Imam-ul-Haq, who made 76 and 48 in the first Test. There will almost certainly be another debutant in left-arm quick Mir Hamza, after fellow left-armer Wahab Riaz was omitted from the 12 after finding neither rhythm nor wickets in Dubai.