Australian captain Pat Cummins rued the fact that they missed their catches in the second innings of the second Test match against Pakistan at the National Stadium, Karachi.
Australia had their noses in front but the home team came up with a rearguard action in the second dig to save the Test match.
Babar Azam scored a masterful knock of 196 whereas Abdullah Shafique scored 96 runs. Mohammad Rizwan continued his rich form as he scored his second Test century. However, Australia had their chances as they dropped four catches in the second dig. Babar Azam received two reprieves whereas Abdullah Shafique also received an extra life.
Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, and Travis Head dropped one catch each whereas Usman Khawaja fluffed a simple chance in the end when he bungled Mohammad Rizwan’s catch.
Pat Cummins said as quoted by Perth Now, “If we took a couple of those catches it might have been a different scenario. I thought we gave ourselves a really good opportunity in this Test match, especially after the first three innings of the game. I was really proud and happy about how our team played.”
He continued: “In foreign conditions, we are showing that we are adapting quite well. But, of course, getting so close and not coming out with a result can feel like it’s a missed opportunity.”
Meanwhile, Cummins feels tactically he won’t have done anything different in the second Test match. The number one Test bowler believes the pitch remained quite the same throughout the five days.
“Coming over here in these conditions, at the start of the series. if you had said it’s going to be nil-all after two games, we would probably take that. In terms of the tactics, I think overall I wouldn’t change too much, to be honest.”
“Batting into day three gave us that chance to really have a crack at them on day three – it probably went better than we expected. But over here, the wickets are pretty good. We carved up two and a half days of the best time on the wicket hoping that it was going to break up on day four and five.”
There is no doubt that Australia would be disappointed as they were in a dominating position to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series but they could not take their catches. The third Test match between these two teams will be played at the Gadaffi Stadium, Lahore from Monday.
