ABU DHABI - Pakistan continued their domination over Australia on with bat and ball Sunday and had remained just six wickets away from a historic series sweep in32 years with one day to spare.
Australian were tottering at 143-4 in chase of mammoth 603 runs target to save the series are…runs adrift with a likely defeat looming over their heads when the stumps ere called on the penultimate day of the second and final Test of the series at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium. Steve Smith was playing on 38 and Mitchel Marsh was not out at 26.Pakistan would resume the final day with an obvious fact that they have broken the Aussie hoodoo for a series win after 20 years.
The Test would be long remembered for the whirlwind batting that came from an unexpected quarter as to surprise to many as Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq showed his prowess of hitting the ball hard by thrashing Australian bowlers all over the ground. Misbah broke the record of the fastest fifty in Tests set by South African Jacques Kallis when he reached the mark in only 21 balls while being in the crease for just 24 minutes. The previous record was made on 24 balls which as came against Zimbabwe in Cape Town in 2005 and the record for the fastest fifty by minutes was of Mohammad Ashraful that came in 27 minutes.
Misbah was given a life early in the innings when he was dropped by Peter Siddle in just his second ball. From that point, Misbah set to tear apart Australia. He singled out Smith for punishment as he smashed 22 runs in one over, including three sixes and a boundary. In the final over before lunch, Misbah worked Mitchell Starc to deep midwicket to notch up the fastest fifty in Tests.
But Misbah remained unstoppable after lunch too. He continued his devastated form to punish Australia further after going mildly slackened for a few deliveries he started to hit it again. And in no time Misbah reached three figure mark even before Azhar Ali when he hit two consecutive fours to Mitchell Starc and equaled the 28 years old record for the fastest hundred in Tests that as set by West Indies’ great Sir Vivian Richrad. It took Misbah 74 minutes in which he got to his hundred, the second-fastest in terms of time. Australia's Jack Gregory scored a century in 70 minutes against South Africa in 1921. Pakistani captain hit 11 boundaries and sent the ball five times over the rope in his hurricane innings. Misbah also became the 76th batsmen in the Test history to score twin hundreds in a match.
As soon as Misbah reached his century he took a single and gave the strike to Azhar who was on 99. Azhar took the single to become the 77th player to hit a twin hundred in Tests. Azhar hit six boundaries in his patient knock that came in 174 deliveries. It was also just the second instance where two batsmen from a team have scored twin hundreds in a Test. Misbah and Azhar scored two hundreds each in this Test. The only previous instance involved Greg Chappell and Ian Chappell, in Hamilton in 1974. Misbah and Azhar posted 141 runs from 102 balls for fourth wicket with a strike rate of 138. This is the best rate for a 100-plus partnership by a Pakistan pair, and the third-fastest ever.
Younus Khan was the only wicket of the day from Pakistan and his dismissal, lbw to Smith was the signal for the end of a historic series for the veteran batsman. Younus made 46 off 122 balls including three boundaries that took his tally of runs in the series to 468. This is the best by a Pakistan batsman in a two-match series, or in a longer series where the concerned batsman has played only two matches. The overall record is 571 runs, by Sanath Jayasuriya against India, in 1997.
The hosts promptly declared on 293-3, with both players having reached their centuries for the second time in the match, leaving Australia facing a daunting run chase to stay in the game and the series. Chris Rogers (2) was unable to handle the pressure as he went first, quickly followed by Glenn Maxwell (4) and Michael Clarke (4). Zulfiqar Babar (3-65) was causing all kinds of problems to Australia's top order and the tourists were 101-4 when M Hafeez (1-33) had David Warner (58) caught at point.
The haplessness of Australians can be evident from the fact that they had lost 14 wickets in the match so far while their bowlers could grab only nine wickets. Pakistan have dominated all the 27 sessions so far in the two match series mainly thanks to the mighty display of Pakistan batsmen who kept the Aussie bowling attack to the sword and continued their record-breaking spree break on every other day.
Mitchell Johnson ended Pakistan's innings out of the bowling attack and off the field nursing a sore hip. His fitness will be a matter of some concern for Australia's management.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN 1ST INNINGS: 570-6 dec
AUSTRALIA 1ST INNINGS: 261
PAKISTAN 2ND INNINGS:
(OVERNIGHT: 61-2)
Ahmed Shehzad b Johnson    14
M Hafeez c Starc b Johnson    3
Azhar Ali not out    100
Younus Khan lbw b Smith    46
Misbah-ul Haq not out    101
EXTRAS: (b23, lb4, nb1, w1)    29
TOTAL: (for 3 wkts; 60.4 overs dec)    293
FOW: 1-14, 2-21, 3-152
BOWLING: Johnson 7-1-45-2, Lyon 18-3-48-0, Starc 11.4-2-56-0, Siddle 14-4-48-0, Smith 6-0-54-1, Marsh 4-1-15-0
AUSTRALIA 2ND INNINGS:
C Rogers c Shafiq b Babar    2
D Warner c Shah b Hafeez    58
G Maxwell lbw b Babar    4
M Clarke b Babar    5
S Smith not out    38
M Marsh not out    26
EXTRAS: (b4, nb1, pen5)    10
TOTAL: (for four wkts; 48 overs)    143
FOW: 1-19, 2-31, 3-43, 4-101
BOWLING: Rahat 5-4-1-0, Khan 5-1-13-0, Hafeez 12-1-33-1, Babar 17-1-65-3, Shah 8-0-21-0, Ali 1-0-1-0
TOSS: Pakistan
UMPIRES: Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong
TV UMPIRE: Marais Erasmus (RSA)
MATCH REFEREE: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)