Pakistan's capitulation was disappointing, but they are renowned for being fragileunder pressure
Pakistan's capitulationu00a0 was disappointing, but they are renowned for being fragileunder pressure
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The extent to which Test cricket is played in the mind is quite extraordinary. Numbing, really.
From the outset yesterday, the Pakistanis contrived ways to lose a match that seemed impossible to lose.
Conversely, the apparently badly beaten Australians not for a moment lost belief in their capacity to engineer an improbable victory.
Of course, these mindsets are well known. Pakistan has long been renowned for its fragility under pressure; Australia for its hardness when the odds are stacked heavily against it.
The Australians may not have regained the aura of invincibility of recent times but they spectacularly put paid to any notion that they are in decline. And captain Ricky Ponting, berated for his rash decision to bat on a green deck under grey skies, has been vindicated in the most dramatic way.
Abysmal
Without in anyway devaluing the achievement of the Australian bowlers and Nathan Hauritz in particular, it must be said that Pakistan's capitulation on a good if demanding fourth day pitch was abysmal. And regrettably, given recent history, it is inevitable that the cynical will question the methods of operation they employed yesterday.
Gallant
The defensive fields set for too long for gallant Australian tailender Peter Siddle were incomprehensible and leg-spinner, Danish Kaneria, so destructive on Tuesday afternoon, was left twiddling his thumbs for 31 minutes before being summoned. It should not have mattered that the ball was still new. None of this made much sense and Michael Hussey, who has spent much of the past few months fighting to regain form and credibility, seized the moment. Hussey is nothing if not unconditionally professional and with canny control of the strike and wholehearted support from Siddle set the Pakistanis a challenge that proved beyond them.
This was the second time in six months they have disintegrated when set a seemingly obtainable target to level a series. At Galle in Sri Lanka in July they were dismissed for 117 in pursuit of 167.u00a0 While it proved to be a thrilling Test match in the best tradition of recent Tests here it was not of a high standard.
Indeed, with few exceptions, the batting was as consistently poor as one is likely to see in such congenial conditions in this rarefied arena. Both teams are bound to make changes before the final Test of the series in Hobart next week.
In fairness, it is never easy batting last in Sydney. But that said, this was a fourth day wicket.
One is always reluctant to apportion blame in a team environment but the Akmal brothers must shoulder much of the responsibility for Pakistan's failure. This is especially so of vice-captain and wicketkeeper Kamran who dropped Hussey on three occasions on Tuesday and yesterday missed a regulation diving leg-side catch offered by Siddle off Mohammad Sami.
Siddle was then 25 and the total at 8-350. It was another dreadful and embarrassing lapse. If Kamran was inept his younger sibling Umar was simply impetuous. Again. There is no doubt he is going to be a fine Test cricketer but as irksome as it may be at 19 he must recognise his limits. For the second time in the match he fell one shy of a half century when seemingly in charge. Following skipper Yousuf's demise to a spectacular if inadvertent return catch by brave Hauritz, the responsibility of winning the match fell to Umar. But at the critical moment he lost his head and endeavoured an arrogant dispatch of Doug Bollinger over mid-on only to miscue to Mitchell Johnson at mid-off. The match and series was Australia's from that point.
The dire collapse by the Pakistanis in just three hours and four minutes was an insult to their principal paceman Mohammad Asif, who deserved his outstanding figures of 6-41 on the absorbing opening day. Ponting is remarkable.
Despite enduring a personally unfulfilling season he never lost faith. He will make sure his men do not get drunk on the applause. More than most he knows it was a very close call.
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