AUS vs PAK first Test | Pakistan digs in as Lyon edges closer to 500 Test wickets

Pakistan tour of Australia: Australia vs Pakistan first Test in Perth on Day 2 — December 15, 2023. Australian spinner Nathan Lyon nears 500-wicket club

Australian spin king Nathan Lyon moved to within three wickets of joining the elite 500 club on December 15 as Pakistan dug deep to stay in touch on day two of the opening Test in Perth.

At stumps, the visitors were 132-2, trailing by 355, with a dogged Imam-ul-Haq not out 38 and nightwatchman Khurram Shahzad on seven after they lost skipper Shan Masood late on.

But it was a slow grind with their runs coming off 53 overs after Aamer Jamal took 6-111 on debut to help dismiss the hosts for 487.

Mitchell Marsh starred with 90 after David Warner’s defiant 164 on day one.

Abdullah Shafique was the first to fall in reply, getting a big inside edge from Lyon to Warner at leg slip after grinding to 42.

It was the veteran’s 497th Test wicket as he closes in on 500 to join a group of just seven other players.

At the other end, Haq was stoic, weathering a fiery bowling blitz from Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins on a pitch that still had some zip.