All possible results are on the cards as the Pakistan vs Australia series goes down to the final day of the final Test in Lahore.
Follow all the updates from what promises to be a tense and intriguing day in Lahore in our ball-by-ball live blog.
Live updates
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Pakistan vs Australia, third Test
Audience comment by Scott
Prediction: Pakistan to win. Say it ain’t so….
By Simon Smale
30th over – Pat Cummins is going to have another
That reverse swing of the last over would have had Cummins very interested, you’d think.
He sends the ball from around the wicket down a line outside off stump and it’s fended away.
One slip in place, if Imam-ul-Haq is going to be that solid then there’ll be no use for him, perfect stroke with a broad bat back down the pitch for no run.
That one angles in a little, Imam-ul-Haq defends back down the pitch.
Cummins bowling between 135 and 139kph at the moment and sends another past the outside of off stump, coming in a little perhaps as Imam-ul-Haq shoulders arms.
Solid defence into the off side for no runs to end another maiden over.
By Simon Smale
only 2 cups of coffee?
-Steph in Melbourne
I’m positive the cricket is going to be exciting enough to keep me awake, Steph.
By Simon Smale
29th over – Cameron Green at the other end
Good option this, Green only bowled three overs yesterday for 0-5, has been accurate all match and, crucially, has got the ball to reverse.
Shafique fends into the leg side for no run first up.
Good ball! It was left outside off by Shafique but tailed in a long way and that’s a great sign for Australia. It was closer than Shafique might have liked to his outside edge.
BIG SHOUT FOR LBW! Looked like it was going down leg for me, a lot of reverse swing and yeah, it hit the back foot outside leg. It was late swing and everyone was very excited about it. No review burned though.
Shafique defends the last two to see out a maiden over.
By Simon Smale
28th over – Pat Cummins will set the tone with first use of the ball
Temperature in the mid 30’s no chance of rain, a two and a half hour session (due to Friday prayers) to open this deciding final day of the series.
Imam-ul-Haq defends the first that’s angled in from around the wicket by Cummins.
The next is deflected off his pads for no run to square leg.
Now Cummins is a bit more off side and Imam-ul-Haq pushes into the off side.
That next one keeps a little bit low but Imam-ul-Haq is dialed in early and fends into the off side.
Wide outside off, a touch of reverse away from the batter? There are just two slips in place.
FOUR! Too leg side and that’s runs off the bat backward of square. It was in the air past Travis Head and I think that might have been a plan, based on the reaction from Cummins. It’s four runs though to end the over.
By Simon Smale
What happened on day four?
Did you miss yesterday’s intriguing day’s play? Never fear. Here’s what happened, in pictorial form.
Warner made a half century, got bowled by Shaheen Shah Afridi, then they had a smile and a joke about it.
Ussie made another brilliant century, his second of the series.
Australia sportingly declared with a lead of 350, which Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique made a reasonable dent into, scoring 73 runs for no wicket in the evening session.
If you want more detail than that, check out our day four summary.
By Simon Smale
The equations
So, who needs to do what.
Pakistan needs 278 more runs to win in the 90 overs that have been allocated for the day – that’s a shade over 3 runs per over.
Australia needs 10 wickets to secure victory.
This blogger needs two more cups of coffee to see me through to the close.
By Simon Smale
Pakistan vs Australia, the final day
It’s safe to say that this series has been something of a slow burner.
Two draws on placid pitches to open things up, followed by two and two-third days of slow, attritional cricket.
Now though, it’s on and all comes down to the final day to determine who will walk away with the Benaud-Qadir Trophy.
All results are still on the table, with Australia desperate for a breakthough to give them confidence of taking the ten wickets they need for victory, while Pakistan will be hoping this opening pairing can keep on going along as nicely as they did last night.
It’s all set up for a thrilling final day, and I’m so thrilled that you’re all here to share it with me.
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