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Pakistan batters Shan Masood, Babar Azam and Agha Salman fought hard and showed a lot of spirit in Melbourne on Day Four, but Australia pacers Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc bowled their hearts out to help the team win the second Test and the series with a match to be played between the two sides.
Pat Cummins led Australia to victory by 79 runs in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. The hosts have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Cummins finished with a 10-wicket match haul in Australia's 79-run win while Starc returned with 4/55 and both pacers bowled a hostile spell of fast bowling to take the host to a second consecutive triumph. Pakistan fought till the last but fell short as Australia completed a solid victory. Starting the last session at 129/3, Pakistan were given some hope by Saud Shakeel and Babar Azam as both batters were decisive in their approach. In the 41st over of the game, Josh Hazlewood delivered an absolute stunner to remove well-set batter Babar for 41. When Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman joined for an adventurous 57-run combination, the topsy-turvy battle seemed to be heading for a dramatic finale. Pakistan were 219 for 5 and needed 98 runs for a series-levelling victory as the match seemed poised to be a cliffhanger. However, Rizwan attempted to sway out of the path of Cummins' short delivery and dropped his wrists as the ball sailed by. Rizwan looked disappointed that the DRS decision had been reversed as Cummins celebrated his 250th Test wicket. The pacer then had Aamer Jamal caught and bowled shortly after. In the next 30 or minutes of the match, Cummins went on to dismiss Shaheen Shah Afridi for his tenth wicket. It rounded off another epic effort by Cummins, who had turned the match on its head late on day two with a splendid spell that included a gem of a ball to bowled Babar Azam. Starc claimed Salman and Mir Hamza in consecutive deliveries as Pakistan were bundled out for 237. Earlier, Masood and Babar Azam led the chase with grit and determination with the bat against a vigilant Australia on Day 4. At Tea, Pakistan's score read 129/3 and they needed 188 runs for victory with Babar Azam (35) and Saud Shakeel (10) looking confident at the crease. Brief Scores: Australia 318 and 262 (Mitchell Marsh 96, Alex Carey 53, Mir Hamza 4/32) vs Pakistan 264 and 237 (Shan Masood 60, Agha Salman 50; Pat Cummins 5-49). (ANI)
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