Snapshot of the fourth day of the first Test in Perth

By: Jasper Bruce Time published 2023-12-17 at 07:58 PM (GMT +11:00)

Nathan Lyon claimed his 500th Test wicket and Usman Khawaja starred with the bat as Australia ran out 360-run winners in the first Test against Pakistan.

Nathan Lyon.
Nathan Lyon. Picture: twitter

AUSTRALIA v PAKISTAN, First Benaud-Qadir Trophy Test, Optus Stadium, Day Four.

SCORE: Australia 487 (David Warner 164, Aamer Jamal 6-111) & 5d-233 (Usman Khawaja 90, Khurram Shahzad 3-45), Pakistan 271 (Imam-ul-Haq 62, Nathan Lyon 3-66) & 89 (Saud Shakeel 24, Josh Hazlewood 3-13)

SUMMARY: Australia thrashed Pakistan by 360 runs in the first Test of the three-match series. Cracks in the wicket troubled the Australian batting order on day four, with Steve Smith and Travis Head falling early in the tough conditions. Usman Khawaja (90) needed medical treatment when struck on the forearm by a fierce Aamir Jamal delivery, but combined with Mitch Marsh (63no from 68 balls) to withstand the early carnage and steady the ship. Pat Cummins declared when Khawaja was caught at deep third man in the nervous nineties. Pakistan found the batting conditions even tougher than their hosts did - Mitch Starc (3-31) dismissed Abdullah Shafique in the first over and things only went downhill from there. The pacemen were particularly brutal before Nathan Lyon notched a historic 500th Test wicket by trapping Faheem Ashraf lbw. The visitors were all out for only 89 runs.

PLAYER OF THE MOMENT: Khawaja and Marsh were the heroes with the bat, and Starc the pick of the bowlers, but Lyon will grab the headlines with his 500th wicket. He had to be patient to notch his milestone after being stranded on 499 following the first innings. Lyon (2-14) had two lbw shouts and a caught-behind review waved away before trapping Ashraf in the third session. He sent Aamir Jamal on his way later that over for good measure. Lyon joins Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath as the only Australians to reach the 500 milestone.

STAT OF THE DAY: Australia have won their past 15 Tests hosting Pakistan, with the visitors' most recent win in December 1995.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "From a young kid growing up in country NSW, 500 wickets was a bloody long way away. There was a lot of hard work. It's something that I'm very, very proud about." Lyon was all smiles speaking to Fox Cricket about his magic moment.