Khawaja, Marsh take Australia's lead past 400-run mark against Pakistan in 1st Test (Day 4, Lunch)
Dec 17, 2023
Perth [Australia], December 17 : Australia further tightened their grip on the first Test with Usman Khawaja holding onto one end and Mitchell Marsh going all guns blazing against Pakistan at the Optus Stadium on Day 4.
At the end of the session, Australia posted a total of 186/4 in 58 overs, leading by 402 runs with Khawaja and Mitchell unbeaten with scores of 68(173) and 42(50) respectively.
Pakistan got better off Australia in the opening hours as they kept the flow of runs in check and bagged a couple of wickets as well.
Khurram Shahzad deceived set batter Steve Smith (44 off 87 deliveries) and successfully trapped him in front of the stumps. Australia's match-winner in ICC tournaments, Travis Head came in and played some promising shots but lost his wicket against the run of play to Aamer Jamal for 14.
From that point, Marsh with his attacking style of cricket combined with Khawaja's sturdy approach took Australia's lead past 400 runs.
The hosts could be looking to declare as both batters continue to accelerate and put up runs quickly on the board.
Brief Score: Australia 487 & 186/4 (Usman Khawaja 68*, Mitchell Marsh 42*; Khurram Shahzad 3-37) vs Pakistan 271 (Imam-ul-Haq 62, Abdullah Shafique 42).
