'Incredible knock' - Andrew McDonald hails Babar Azam's marathon century in Karachi Test

Australia’s interim head coach Andrew McDonald has lauded Pakistan skipper Babar Azam for his heroics with the bat during the second Test match between Pakistan and Australia in Karachi. To note, the visitors put up a mammoth target of 506 for the home side to chase in their second innings.

Hence, the home side was fighting the odds. However, skipper Babar Azam’s 196 off 428 balls and Mohmmad Rizwan’s century ensured that Australia stayed away from the victory. The three-match Test series between Pakistan and Australia is still level at 0-0 and the decider will be played in Lahore, beginning from March 21 (Monday).

“It was the best by a captain in the fourth innings”: McDonald on Babar’s knock

“An incredible knock and I am glad he brought that up. There have been a lot of other things discussed rather than the high skill and temperament with what he went about in that innings. There was spin on that wicket, he was able to navigate through that and it was quite amazing. You have to factor in that it was a drawn Test, in terms of saving the Test it is right up there in what I have seen,” McDonald was quoted as saying by NDTV.

“It was the best by a captain in the fourth innings. An incredible feat, denied us a victory but full credit to the way he played,” he added.

Winning the toss, Australian captain Pat Cummins opted to bat first and his decision was proved right by his teammates. Riding on Usman Khawaja’s 160, Australia piled up a huge score of 556/9 in their first innings.

In reply, the hosts were cleaned out of 148 runs in their first innings with Mitchell Starc claiming three wickets for Australia. The visitors then declared their second innings at the score of 97/2, setting a humongous 506-run target for the hosts.

Pakistan did stutter in starting of their second innings with opener Imam-ul-Haq and Azhar Ali getting out cheaply. However, captain Azam (196 runs off 425 balls) and wicketkeeper-batter Rizwan (104 runs off 177 balls) assisted the home side to prevent the visitors from registering a win in the second Test.