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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Lyon spins Australia to victory

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MELBOURNE: Nathan Lyon grabbed five wickets to spin Australia to an emphatic innings and 48-run victory in the second Test against Pakistan on Monday as the hosts swept the series 2-0.


Asked to follow on, Pakistan’s batsmen battled hard at Adelaide Oval to make Australia bat again but were bowled out for 239 shortly after the dinner break in the day-night Test.


Four years after sweeping Misbah-ul-Haq’s Pakistan 3-0, Australia maintained their perfect record against the south Asians on home soil and continued their recent good form in Tests since retaining the Ashes in England.


“Really happy,” said Australia skipper Tim Paine, whose team thrashed Azhar Ali’s side by an innings and five runs in the Brisbane opener.


“Probably barring a few slip-ups yesterday in the field I think we’ve played some fantastic cricket over the last two test matches.


“We came back from England, we felt we were getting better all the time and it was really pleasing to get the results to start the summer.”


Australia, who next face New Zealand in a three-test home series, earned a maximum 120 points in the ICC World Test Championship to shore up second place behind India.


Pakistan were punished for bringing a rookie attack of teenage pace bowlers to Australia and depart the country with queries over the captaincy of new skipper Azhar and the guidance of selector-coach Misbah after being comprehensively outplayed.


“Obviously, it’s always hard coming to Australia and beating the Australians here but I think we’ve been beaten by a better side,” Azhar said.


Denied a wicket in Pakistan’s first-innings 302 despite bowling some good spells, Lyon enjoyed belated rewards on day four after the tourists resumed on 39 for three, and finished with innings-best figures of 5-69.


 — Reuters


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