The Australian skipper Pat Cummins was named as the Player of the Match during the second test at Melbourne.
Pat Cummins on victory at Melbourne test
Pat Cummins-led Australia won the second match against Shan Masood-led Pakistan by 79 runs on Pakistan’s Australia tour 2023 at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
After winning the toss in the second test, Pakistan chose to bowl where they concluded the first day with bagging 3 wickets for 187 runs.
However, Australia concluded their innings with 318 runs in their first innings. Despite an impressive performance in the morning session, where Pakistan took seven wickets to dismiss Australia before lunch. The extras turned out to be the second-highest contributor to Australia’s runs on the second day of the Test match.
Pakistan lost all 10 wickets on scoring 264 runs in their first innings. Australia started their second innings with 54 runs lead and scored 262 runs where Mitchell Marsh scored 96 runs, Alex Carey and Steven Smith smashed half-centuries.
With a trail of 316 runs, Pakistan started their second innings where Shan Masood and Agha Salman smashed half-centuries. By the end, Pakistan scored 237 runs and lost the match by 79 runs.
While speaking in the post-match Interview Pat Cummins said, “Love playing here. Boxing Day – biggest Test match of the calendar. Love the build-up around Christmas. Last few years, the wickets have been nice.”
“You got a few options here, there’s a bit of seam in the last few years. I like a bit of up-and-down bounce. You can bowl some short balls. The run-up’s always really nice here.”
“Little bit twitchy (when Pakistan needed less than 100 to win), felt okay, they were batting pretty nicely, happy with the Rizwan wicket. Anything above 300 was the aim, thought we had enough to bowl at, a little bit tight,” Cummins added.
“Steve’s and Marsh’s partnership really got us back in the game. We were behind for a little while, they were bowling well, had their tails up, wicket was tough.”
“That was a huge partnership, got us back in the game, gave us something to defend. Even at 4/16, the dressing room was calm. We knew someone’s gonna step up. Real trust and support in the change room for each other,” said Cummins.
“Every week, it feels like another match-winner stands up. Crazy year, with lots of success on the field. I think we will look back and remember 2023 as one of the special ones. Got an extra day off, chill for a few days, and get ready for the next Test,” he concluded.
Australia leads the series 2-0 and stands third in the WTC points table. Australia and Pakistan will be playing their third test match starting on January 03, at Sydney Cricket Ground.
