Australia easily pursued the 130-run target on the fourth day of the Sydney Test against Pakistan, thanks to David Warner’s half-century, which capped an incredible Test career. After defeating Pakistan by eight wickets in Perth and Melbourne, Australia has swept the series.
Muhammad Rizwan and Aamir Jamal fought valiantly early in the morning. They both twisted the ball just enough to allow Pakistan to exceed the 100-run threshold (28, 57b, 1×4) before Nathan Lyon eventually bowled Rizwan. The wicketkeeper-batter, who finishes the series as Pakistan’s leading scorer with 193 runs in four innings, inside-edged the Lyon delivery to Warner at first slip.
Pakistan’s suffering increased when Travis Head caught Aamir (18, 47b, 2x4s) attempting to hit a six-off Pat Cummins’s throw at deep square leg. After Pakistan was all out for 115 runs, Lyon took Hasan Ali for the final wicket of the game.
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Australia’s chances of reaching the low target of 130 were dashed with Usman Khawaja’s dismissal in the first over. When a ball brushed against Khawaja’s pads during a delivery from Sajid Khan, he was out for zero and was out before the wicket.
Even after losing a wicket in the opening over, Warner and company continued to punish the opposition with several powerful hits to grab the lead. Using reverse sweeps and switch strokes, among other audacious strokeplay, he guided his side to the 37th and last fifty wickets of his Test career.
Australia needed just 39 runs to win at midday, mostly due to their growing confidence in Marnus Labuschagne. After Sajid dismissed Warner (57, 75b, 7x4s) after a successful review of an LBW shout that the on-field umpire had rejected, Australia fell 11 runs short of the target.
Labuschagne hit 62 off 73 balls, nine fours, and the winning run to finish the chase unbeaten.
Aamir was declared player of the Sydney Test after hitting a spectacular six-fer with the ball and amassing an incredible 82 runs in the opening inning. Due to his career-high 19 wickets, Australia’s captain, Pat Cummins, was selected as the player of the series.
In addition to giving Warner a heartfelt farewell at the post-match presentation ceremony, Pakistan captain Shan Masood also gifted departing opener Babar Azam an autographed shirt.
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