The cricket world is raging after the opening Test of the Pakistan-Australia series – the visitors’ first in the country since 1998 – ended in the sleepiest of draws in a long time.
What had been touted as an historic and breathtaking occasion quickly descended into a farce as it became evident early that any outcome other than a draw on such a lifeless pitch was not in the picture.
In a fitting end to the dreary match, Usman Khawaja – who had bowled just two overs in his 46-Test career – was handed the ball for the final over.
AS IT HAPPENED: ‘Grim’ Pakistan Test match dawdles to close
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The veteran opening batter began with a half-tracker down leg and sent down a loopy full toss for his third ball, before wrapping up his over as the teams shook hands.
The match had produced 1187 runs and just 14 wickets.
In another telling indication of just how much the bat had dominated the ball, Australia’s bowling average of 238.33 is the second-worst by a team in history.
Australia took a combined 4-728 from 239 overs.
Four Pakistan tons were made, two of which came from a man who hadn’t registered a Test hundred previously, and four of the tourists reached half-centuries.
“So much build-up, so much expectation,” wrote former ABC sports broadcaster Glenn Mitchell on Twitter, “and, in the end, so disappointing.
“There is no excuse for a pitch like that.”
When Khawaja took the ball for the final over, Sydney Morning Herald sports journalist Tom Decent described the scenes as “grim”.
https://twitter.com/MitchellGlenn/status/1501169259493298177https://twitter.com/tomdecent/status/1501157912818847754
International Cricket Council officials will judge whether the Rawalpindi pitch should be deemed ‘poor’.
The venue will be handed three demerit points if categorised in that way.
A venue is suspended from hosting international cricket for 12 months if it receives five demerit points in a five-year period.
Middle-order Australia batter Steve Smith labelled the Rawalpindi deck “pretty benign” and “dead”.
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