The international summer of cricket is underway as Australia and Pakistan meet at Perth Stadium for day one of the first Test.
Australia won the toss and opted to bat, with David Warner answering his critics with a 41-ball half-century against a wayward Pakistan bowling attack.
Warner, like opening partner Usman Khawaja, had a narrow scare in the opening three overs, edging the ball narrowly out of reach of the slip cordon.
But he showed positive intent and played with his trademark aggression, hitting nine fours on the way to his half-ton – including three in one over to bring up the milestone with a boundary.
“It’s been an aggressive 50,” Mark Waugh said. “The intent’s been there. He’s been moving down the wicket, he’s looked to score with every delivery.”
Ravi Shastri in commentary for Fox Cricket criticised Pakistan’s sloppy early bowling: “They’ve been all over the place… the lengths have not been consistent at all.”
Moments later, Khawaja was given a lifeline when he top-edged a ball high in the air and over the slips. But Abdullah Shafique over-ran the catch and dropped the ball, which rolled to the boundary to add insult to injury.
Khawaja was on 21 at the time, and would have given debutant Aamer Jamal his maiden Test wicket.
The score is 0/82 after 14 overs, with Warner 50* and Khawaja 29*.
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Under an onslaught of Warner boundaries, Pakistan soon turned to a defensive field.
Mark Waugh said on Fox Cricket: “It’s a bit of a worry the field is spread so early in the Test match.”
Michael Vaughan said: “He’s (captain Shan Masood) probably not trusting his bowlers to bowl exactly where he’d like.”
Waugh replied: “I can understand your thinking but at the end of the day they need wickets.”
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AUSSIES WIN TOSS ON ‘MAGNIFICENT’ PITCH
Australia has won all three Tests at Perth Stadium – having won the toss and choosing to bat each time.
“It’s a quintessential Aussie ground where it’s got pace and bounce, and that suits our batters and bowlers,” captain Pat Cummins said at the toss.
“We feel really comfortable here.”
It came after Michael Hussey made the shock call that the captain that won the toss should consider bowling first.
Hussey said on Fox Cricket: “What a great looking pitch this is. Nice even coverage of grass, plenty of green in there. It’s a little bit soft on top. We’re expecting it to be a little bit slower on the first day but still have plenty of carry, but it’ll speed up as the Test wears on.”
He added: “It looks absolutely magnificent… I wouldn’t be surprised if both teams wouldn’t mind having a bowl first on this because there’s a little bit of moisture under the surface.”
Mark Waugh also said: “I thought Australia might bowl first.”
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Usman Khawaja said on Fox Cricket: “It just looks like a true hard fast Perth wicket to me.
“Plenty of nice even grass coverage on it. Tiny couple of cracks, I’m not sure if they’re going to come into play – whether it’s going to be hot enough for the five days, because you need heat to open up the cracks.
“I think it’s going to be a good batting track. Hard work early – always hard work for the openers! If we can get through that bit I think it’ll be a very nice wicket.”
It has been a relatively uninterrupted preparation for the first Test after Australia confirmed just the one change to the starting XI, with Nathan Lyon replacing Todd Murphy.
Earlier in the week, curator Isaac McDonald tipped a “hard, fast and bouncy” surface.
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TEAMS:
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Pakistan XI: Shan Masood (capt), Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad
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