PERTH: Australia’s opening pair of David Warner and Usman Khawaja dominated Pakistan’s inexperienced bowling attack as they raced to an unbeaten 117 at Lunch on Day 1 of the first Test here on Thursday.
Australian openers justified their captain Pat Cummins’ decision to bat first as they took the Pakistan bowlers to the cleaners to put the home side in a commanding position in the very first session.
David Warner, who is playing his potential last Test series, was the core aggressor of the unbeaten stand, smashing a brisk 72 not out in just 67 balls with the help of 11 fours and a six when the players headed out for the break.
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While Warner was decimating the touring side’s bowlers, Usman Khawaja made sure to firmly hold the other end and rotated the strike.
At the stroke of Lunch, Khawaja had scored an unbeaten 37 with the help of five boundaries.
Earlier, Australia’s skipper Cummins opted to bat first on a bouncy surface of the Optus Stadium when the coin flipped in his favour.
The Perth Test marked the first match for Shan Masood as the Pakistan captain while Khurram Shahzad and Aamir Jamal made their Test debut.
It would be a major challenge for Shan Masood as the Test captain as Pakistan sport a dismal record against Australia in Tests at the latter’s backyard.
Pakistan last triumphed against Australia in their home ground back in 1995.
Playings XIs
Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad
READ: Complete squads of all six teams after PSL 9 Players Draft
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