"From Genius to wheels off within in 10 mins" - Michael Vaughan on Pakistan's performances in Australia Test series
Former England captain Michael Vaughan recently mentioned that he enjoys watching the Pakistan team play because of the unpredictability of their performances.
The Men in Green are currently involved in an away from home three-match Test series against Australia. The visitors suffered an embarrassing 360-run defeat in the opening Test after being bundled out for just 89 in the fourth innings.
Pakistan did show some resilience in the subsequent Boxing Day Test, scoring 264 in response to Australia's 318-run first innings total. They were off to a fantastic start with the ball in the second innings. However, they let the game slip out of their hands in the latter stages.
Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter), Vaughan wrote:
"The reason I love watching Pakistan is days like this … they go from Genius to wheels off within in 10 mins."
Australia had a 54-run lead to their name when they walked out to bat in the second innings. However, they dealt with a horrible start, with David Warner, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne departing early.
Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith steadied the ship following the shaky start, scoring 96 and 50, respectively. Marsh earned a big reprieve in the 15th over, after being dropped by Abdullah Shafique in the 16th over.
Australia finished with a lead of 241 runs at stumps on Day 3, while Pakistan claimed 6 wickets
Pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi struck early in Australia's second innings, sending back Usman Khawaja for a duck in the very first over.
He provided his team with another crucial breakthrough by claiming the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne (4) in the third over. David Warner too failed to get going, perishing to Mir Hamza after scoring just six runs. To make matters worse, Travis Head got out for a golden duck on the very next ball.
Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh formed a crucial 153-run stand for the fifth wicket, swinging the pendulum in the favor of the hosts. Marsh would have been dismissed for 20 had Abdullah Shafique grabbed the chance at slips.
However, the dropped catch proved costly for Shan Masood and Co. Australia finished at 187/6 at stumps on Day 3, leading Pakistan by 241 runs.