Brisbane: Pakistan will aim to create history at the Gabba when they take the pitch on the final day of the first Test match against Australia on Monday. The visitors have a slim chance of chasing the target of 490-runs as Pakistan’s lower middle order batsman Asad Shafiq continue to frustrate the hosts.
After an extended, rain-interrupted fourth day, Pakistan reached stumps at 382-8 at 10:09 p.m. local time. That left Australia three sessions Monday to take two wickets. Pakistan needs 108 runs for an improbable, record-beating run chase.
Pakistan's hopes of prolonging the test into a fifth day appeared to plummet as it slumped to 173-5 in the middle session when Younis Khan (65) attempted an impetuous reverse sweep and got an edge off the bat. The ball rolled up his arm and floated up to Steve Smith, who ran behind the wicketkeeper to take a simple catch.
But the resistance was far from over, with Shafiq marshalling the lower order.
He shared partnerships of 47 with Sarfraz Ahmed (24), 92 with Mohammad Amir (48) and 66 with Wahab Riaz (30) to defy an Australian attack that had skittled Pakistan's first innings with a spell of 7-24 on the second night.
Batting at No. 6, Shafiq raised his 10th test century in the second-to-last over, reaching the milestone from 140 balls and stroking 10 boundaries and a six. He was not out 100 at the close and Yasir Shah was on four, surviving three balls after Wahab was caught at slip in the last over.
Compounding the frustrations for Australia were dropped catches, including two good chances at second slip by skipper Smith — one off Mitch Starc's bowling when Shafiq was on 72.
The Pakistan lineup has already set a record for the biggest fourth innings at the Gabba, a mark England set at 370 in a 277-run loss during the 2006-07 Ashes series.
Now they're hopeful of going one further. The two highest successful fourth-innings chases in test history have come against Australia — the West Indies scoring 418-7 at Antigua in 2002-03 and South Africa making 414-4 in Perth in 2008-09.
"The wicket in the last over really hurt us. It still would have been a big task but it looks a bit bigger now because we only have two wickets," opener Azhar Ali said. "Asad is still there, so we have hopes that if he carries on and Yasir Shah and Rahat Ali bat with him as long as they can, we can get closer at least."
Azhar said the application the batsmen had shown in the face of a daunting total was a confidence boost.
"Asad Shafiq was struggling and he came back with a bang," he said. "We really enjoyed his innings the way he batted, it was a really special knock, and also special how Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz batted."
Pakistan resumed Sunday at 70-2 and survived the shortened first session without loss. But after a long delay for a thunder storm, and a 15-minute interruption for showers, Pakistan lost opener Azhar Ali (71), skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (5) and Younis before dinner.
Australia's bowling coach David Saker said his attack was guilty of searching too hard for a wicket at that stage instead of sticking to the game plan.
"No doubt we wanted to finish off the game today (but) hats off to Pakistan, they batted particularly well," Saker said. "We're still in a very good strong position. I'd prefer to be in our position than theirs."
Starc ended Azhar's defiant innings after a barrage of short-pitch bowling. The Pakistan opener was 41 overnight and hadn't added a run when he was hit on the back of the helmet by a short ball from Josh Hazlewood.
He shrugged off the pain to lead a 91-run stand with Younis before attempting a pull shot and giving a leg-side catch to Wade.
Younis appeared to be Pakistan's best hope of salvaging something from the contest but when he went out, Shafiq took up the challenge.
He had excellent support from Sarfraz, who was clean bowled by Starc's full, in-swinging ball. Amir batted at No. 8 and surpassed his highest test score — 39 not out — before he was caught behind off Jackson Bird, ending a 66-ball, 86-minute cameo.
Wahab took over, hitting two sixes and two boundaries to continue the rearguard effort.
Australia set up the game by scoring 429 after winning the toss and then bowling Pakistan out for 142 on day three. Smith opted not to enforce the follow-on, despite the 287-run lead, and declared later Saturday at 202-5, setting Pakistan an improbable target of 490.