AUS vs PAK | Twitter stunned as catastrophic Australian collapse abruptly propels Pakistan into driver's seat

AUS vs PAK | Twitter stunned as catastrophic Australian collapse abruptly propels Pakistan into driver's seat

SportsCafe Desk

By SportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Australia and a batting collapse are two terms foreign to each other given the former's world-renowned mental fortitude and resilient dominance, especially at home. However, Pakistan managed to trigger the rare event at MCG with an exquisite display of bowling that earned them four quick scalps.

Pakistan seemed destined for another huge loss and consequently conceding an unassailable series lead after they folded out for 264 on the morning of Day 3 in chase of Australia's first innings total of 318. However, their fortunes unexpectedly quickly soon after as Australia's in-form batting unit slumped like a house of cards in overcast conditions to hand the visitors a significant grasp on the Boxing Day Test.

The upsurge began in the first over itself as Shaheen Afridi took just two deliveries to get rid of the formidable Usman Khawaja. The left arm quick pitched the Kookaburra back of a length that shaped away just enough from the batter to take a tickle off his outside edge en route to an easy grab for Mohammad Rizwan. However, the hosts seemed set to recompose with Lunch on the horizon and Marnus Labuschagne had just one more delivery to contend with ahead of the break but his fatal instincts handed the Men in Green a gift. Afridi slid a ball way down leg to cap off the third over and an off-balance Labuschagne attempted to reach for it and the ball slid off his face for another caught behind.

However, havoc only truly broke in the second session when Mir Hamza took the ball in hand for his third over of the day. Australia had added 10 runs after the break to their score from 6/2 with David Warner on strike when the right-arm medium pacer delivered a tempting half-tracker significantly wide of the batter. The opener shuffled a couple of steps down the track and attempted a half-hearted pull but could only manage an inside edge as the red cherry crashed into the stumps. Travis Head was the next in line and first up received an unplayable jaffa as Hamza's delivery started wide of the stumps before experiencing prodigious movement in the air to split open the southpaw and meander the gap between bat and pad to sound the death rattle.

A stunned silence pervaded the iconic MCG as Hamza wheeled around in celebration while being chased by his ecstatic teammates and Twitterati took no time to heap praise on the visitors' efforts.

Crazy delivery!

What an over!!

Pure delight!

The great collapse

A thing of beauty

A mini collapse

The eagle

On fire

Little beauty

Back with a bang

Superb

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