Follow UsThe Rawalpindi surface hasn't done justice to all the hype that was created prior to Australia's first Test on Pakistan soil in 24 years. The first Test of the three-match series is progressing towards a dull draw as the batters have dominated the proceedings on the first four days. With 925 runs scored and only 11 wickets taken after four days, the pitch has come under scrutiny.
"It's pretty benign. There's not a great deal of pace and bounce in it for the seamers. I think the spinners have offered a little bit. When you hit the right length there's been a little bit of natural variation and you know, when you get it out a bit wider into the rough I think there's a little bit there as well. So I thought it would break up a little bit more and probably turn a bit more from the start, but it probably hasn't done so. But yeah, pretty benign, dead wicket," said Australian batter and vice-captain Steve Smith.
In the first innings, Imam-ul-Haq and Azhar Ali smashed big centuries and helped Pakistan amass a total of 476/4 (decl). In reply, Australia's top-four batters - Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith - all scored half-centuries but neither of them could convert it into a big score. At the end of day four, Australia were 449/7, still trailing by 27 runs, and Smith believes Australia could still force a result if they manage to get a decent lead.
"Hopefully, the tail can stay out there for a while. And if they do, they usually score pretty quickly. If they do, there's a decent chance that we'd be able to set a half-decent total to potentially have a bowl at. If we get a hundred or something in front, you just never know with this game. We take a few early wickets, a couple of balls hit the rough, some things happen on day five. So hopefully they can spend a bit of time out there. We'll see how we go."
Having scored 78, Smith himself missed out on a big score. The right-handed batter was caught behind while trying to sweep Nauman operating with a negative line. "Pretty annoyed. I got a bit greedy with the field they had set. Even if I was hitting that I was probably only getting a single, so disappointed to have worked pretty hard and got myself in a nice position to go on and get a big score.
"I'm disappointed in my shot selection and probably just the position of the game as well. Perhaps if we were five down we might have been able to push a little harder in the morning and potentially set something up for the fourth innings of the match. You never know if you get a 100-run lead what can happen so yeah, a bit disappointing."