Steven Smith slams 17th Test century before rain ruins day again
Melbourne, by Tristan Lavalette •
Last updated on Thu, 29 Dec, 2016, 11:53 AM
Steven Smith dominated Pakistan bowlers with an unbeaten 100 off 168 balls.
Steven Smith's 17th Test century propelled Australia past Pakistan's first innings total but a thunderstorm ensured the fourth day's final session was washed out as the second Test at the MCG appears inevitably headed for a draw.
The Australian captain notched up his second ton of the series moments before play was halted, originally for bad light, 25 minutes ahead of the tea break. Smith was 100 not out and Mitchell Starc unbeaten on 7, as Australia reached 465 for 6 - a lead of 22 runs - at stumps. Smith, who hit nine boundaries in a chanceless innings, combined with hometown hero Peter Handscomb (54) in a 92-run fourth-wicket partnership.
Melbourne's forecast for day four was dire with heavy rain predicted, but - typical of Melbourne's schizophrenic weather - there was no precipitation for most of the first two sessions before the heavens opened up closer to the end of the post-Lunch period.
Play started 30 minutes early with Australia rollicking along at 278 for 2 and there was much anticipation over whether Usman Khawaja could score a century, being delicately perched overnight on 95. However, the talented left-hander was unable to continue his sublime form from the previous evening and was dismissed in the opening 15 minutes of play when he nicked a wide delivery from Wahab Riaz. Agonisingly, he fell for 97, the second time this summer he has fallen three short of his century after suffering a similar fate against South Africa at the WACA.
Amid a humid Melbourne, where the MCG felt like being in a sauna, the ball started reverse swinging, which Wahab and Mohammad Amir dangerously utilisied. Runs were harder to score than when Khawaja and David Warner were rollicking late on day three, but Smith had no problems negotiating the menacing swing.
With little more than 7000 at the MCG, the eerie silence felt more reminiscent of a Sheffield Shield match, but Handscomb ensured he pleased his home fans with another highly impressive half-century - meaning he has passed 50 in every Test of his fledgling career.
Handscomb and Smith were making batting look easy, expertly picking off the bowling and piercing Misbah-ul-Haq's defensive fields. The Victorian quickly overtook Smith and the impregnable batting belied his inexperience.
The 25-year-old reached his half-century in just 69 deliveries, as the golden start to his career continued marked by an average of over 100. However, after reaching the landmark, Handscomb became bogged down as Pakistan finally, belatedly, were able to stymie Australia's frenetic run rate. Testament to that, leg spinner Yasir Shah, who had leaked runs throughout the innings, bowled his first maiden during his 21st over as the match became docile - a far cry from its frenetic nature for much of the match.
Handscomb received a life on 51 when Amir dropped a return catch but soon fell carving Sohail Khan straight to point shortly after Pakistan had taken the new ball. Nic Maddinson, the struggling No.6 batsman, negotiated a tricky 25-minute period before lunch to quickly surpass his Test total, which had yielded just five runs from three innings.
After lunch, Maddinson was bogged down and in attempt to break the shackles, he unsuccessfully tried to slog Yasir but his ugly swipe missed and the ball cannoned into the stumps. Maddinson's 55-ball 22 is probably nowhere near enough to fend off question marks over his position.
Clouds thickened ominously above but there was enough time for Smith to reach another century. Whether there will be enough time for Australia to force a result remains to be seen.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 443/9 decl. (Azhar Ali 205*, Sohail Khan 65; Josh Hazlewood 3-50) trail Australia 465/6 (David Warner 144, Steven Smith 100*, Usman Khawaja 97; Sohail Khan 2-86) by 22 runs
