Australia took the extra half hour, much after the scheduled close, in anticipation of a win. But at the end of an everlasting gobsmacker of a day, Pakistan dared to dream
Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane18-Dec-2016When this day began, stumps was meant to be 8pm.Then it rained, and an hour was added to make up the overs. Stumps was meant to be 9pm.Then Australia failed to get through their overs, so an extra half hour was added. Stumps was meant to be 9.30pm.Then Steven Smith thought ‘I reckon we can win this tonight’ – Australia needed three wickets for victory. So he asked the umpires for the extra half hour. Stumps was meant to be 10pm.But the wording of the ICC’s playing conditions is such that the extra time allowed to achieve a result is “30 minutes (a minimum of eight overs)”. Australia failed to bowl their extra eight overs within half an hour.And so, stumps was finally called at 10.09pm.Australia had not won. Not just that, they also allowed the match to reach a stage from where Pakistan could dream of victory. That was as unthinkable at the start of this day as the idea of Test cricket at 10pm would have been to WG Grace.Nothing in the preceding 150 minutes suggested an extra half hour was warranted. In the previous 27 overs, Australia had claimed just a solitary wicket, and Pakistan had added 111 runs. A chance had been let off when Smith put down a catch at slip, and the momentum was with Pakistan.Not even Australia’s coaches wanted the extra time taken: they would have preferred their fast bowlers to rest, rejuvenate, and return fresh on day five. It was, assistant coach David Saker said, “a bit frustrating”.When extra half hour was granted, a cynic in the press box suggested that the umpires wanted a day on the golf course on Monday. It was meant as a joke, but later Ian Gould was seen at square leg practising his golf swing.The umpires had granted the time, but Smith must have asked for it. The wording of the ICC’s playing condition 16.2 is that extra time may be granted “if requested by either captain” and if “in the umpires’ opinion, it would bring about a definite result”.A definite result.Smith thought Australia would win. Not win. win. The umpires thought Australia win.Pakistan disagreed. Pakistan had fought tooth and nail throughout this day. Pakistan had earned respect. No objective observer would have viewed the situation at 9.30pm and said that a result would be achieved with eight more overs.So Pakistan said “f*** you”. Metaphorically, of course.Wahab Riaz helped Pakistan score at more than a run a ball in the extra eight overs bowled•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesWahab smashed Nathan Lyon through square leg for four, and next ball slogged a six over long-on. In Lyon’s next over he deposited him over midwicket for six more.Asad Shafiq, the well-set batsman on 77 when the extra time was granted, used it not block out the day’s play, but to move calmly to his ninth Test century at No.6, breaking the all-time record held by Garry Sobers.Only in the eighth over of the eight overs of extra time did Australia finally take a wicket, when Smith held a chance at slip off Jackson Bird to remove Wahab for 30.But Pakistan scored 51 runs in the extra eight overs. That, for the mathematically challenged, is more than a run a ball. Pakistan started that period needing 159 more runs to win, with three wickets in hand. They ended it needing 108 more to win, with two wickets in hand.Make no mistake, with Shafiq at the crease, this result is far from a certainty.To win, Pakistan need a total of 490, which would smash the previous record for the highest successful run chase in Test history. But already they have equalled their highest fourth-innings score in all of Test cricket. Pakistan have always been unpredictable, and therefore dangerous.They walked off at the eventual stumps time – 129 minutes later than the originally scheduled stumps time – with hope.The amazing, ballooning final session had finally ended. This everlasting gobsmacker of a day – eight hours and nine minutes from first ball to last – had given Pakistan a chance.Only 4890 fans turned up on the fourth day, a Sunday, a flaccid figure after the huge crowds of the first three days. Entry is free on day five. Perhaps Australia will take only two balls to wrap up a win. But remember this: at Edgbaston, in 2005, the last day opened with Australia needing 107 runs and England two wickets. Here, Pakistan need 108 runs and Australia two wickets.One thing is certain: day five will bring a result. But which result is anyone’s guess.
