Marsh went on to score 96 runs, which gave the Pat Cummins-led team a boost. Team director Mohammad Hafeez of Pakistan expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance, even though they lost the Boxing Day Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He also mentioned that they were superior to the hosts. Significantly, Pakistan led Australia 16/4 at one point on Day 3 until Abdullah Shafique dropped a routine catch of Mitchell Marsh at slip.
Pakistan was in the hunt for most of the chase, needing to pursue 317 runs. Shan Masood, the skipper, scored a half-century once more, with Babar Azam providing solid support. Upon returning to the pavilion, Agha Salman and Muhammad Rizwan attempted to seize the initiative, but neither was able to make a profit.
Interestingly, the on-field umpire awarded Rizwan a not-out for a caught-behind appeal, making his dismissal a contentious ruling. Upon reviewing it, Pat Cummins, who was unsure, noticed a jump in the sharp edge. Still, no tangible evidence was found in the hotspot, which greatly infuriated the stumper-batter when he was disposed of. Hafeez talked about the same thing and said that things might have turned out differently if certain decisions had gone their way.
Hafeez made some remarks, to which Pat Cummins responded by saying that although the visitors performed well at MCG, he was still happy to win and didn’t care what anyone thought of the game.
“Alright. Cool. Their performance was good. I’m relieved that we prevailed. Ultimately, it doesn’t seem to matter. In the end, the squad emerges victorious,” the captain stated, according to news.com.au.
— Deepika (@DeepTakeBackUp) December 29, 2023
With another five-for from Cummins, Australia won the match by a score of 79 runs. They have moved up to third place in the World Test Championship points table and are now leading the series 2-0. Conversely, the third Test is scheduled to begin in Sydney on January 3.
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