AUS vs PAK first Test | Australia builds big lead over Pakistan as Lyon moves to 499 Test wickets

Australia take 300-run lead in first Test vs Pakistan, as veteran spinner Nathan Lyon moves within one wicket of 500-mark. Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith dig in to extend lead.

Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith dug in to stretch Australia’s lead and take the first Test away from Pakistan on December 16, as veteran spinner Nathan Lyon moved within one wicket of the 500-mark.

The hosts reached stumps on day three in Perth at 84-2, building their lead to 300 after bowling out the visitors on the cusp of tea for 271 in reply to their first innings 487.

Veteran spinner Lyon was the best of the bowlers with 3-66, but he was made to wait to reach a milestone that will put him in elite company alongside just seven other players.

At the close, Khawaja was on 34 and Smith 43 as Pakistan’s hopes of a first Test win in Australia since 1995 faded.

The home side had a shaky start with first innings century-maker David Warner out for a duck.

The 37-year-old, fresh from his defiant 164, mis-timed a pull shot from Khurram Shahzad and lobbed to Imam-ul-Haq for a comfortable catch at mid-wicket.

Marnus Labuschagne also surrendered cheaply on a pitch offering uneven bounce, out for two with Shahzad again the tormentor, tempting a big edge taken by wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed.