‘Test match was on that catch’: Horror blunder as Aussies saved after 31-ball top-order collapse

The Boxing Day Test has been turned on its head by an errant moment of fielding from Pakistan.

With Australia on the ropes on day three at 4-46, a Mitch Marsh edge sailed into the slot for Abdullah Shafique at first slip.

Shafique dropped the sitter to the amazement of the MCG crowd, with Marsh breathing a sigh of relief and new life coming into the Australian batting lineup.

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It was compounded by an errant piece of fielding the following ball that saw captain Shan Masood let a Marsh ball sail past him for a boundary.

“I think you’ve got to get Shafique out of there,” Mark Waugh told Fox Cricket.

“He has not looked like catching one all series. He’s hung onto one and only just.

“At some stage you’ve got to get the hook out and say ‘Out of there son’. It’s like a crocodile jaw trying to catch a ball.

“It’s unfortunate but you’ve got to get him out of there. His confidence is so low at the moment.”

The context of the missed opportunity made it all the more significant, with co-commentator Kerry O’Keeffe declaring, “the Test match was on that catch, you have to take it.”

After Masood’s errant fielding, Isa Guha exclaimed: “The wheels are off for Pakistan all of a sudden in the field.”

It marked a significant shift in momentum given the visitors had stormed through the Australian batting attack to that point.

Usman Khawaja’s stint came to an end two balls in for a duck, while David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head were dismissed for a total of 10 runs.

“This is why they’re the most mercurial side in world cricket,” O’Keeffe said of Pakistan.

“They can be absolutely brilliant and then put two balls together like that. The dropped catch and the skipper letting one go through.”

Waugh added: “You can just feel the air come out of them.”

“That’s two moments – the dropped catch and not so much the missed field – You’ve got to feel sorry for Shafique but he shouldn’t be there.”