Feeble Pakistan fold for 89 as Australia emerge triumphant in Perth Test

Australia skittled Pakistan on a treacherous Perth pitch to record a thumping 360run victory in the AUS vs PAK 1st Test inside four days with Nathan Lyon achieving the elusive landmark of 500 test wickets on SundayPakistan was blown away for 89 all out in the final session on Day 4 for its 15th consecutive test defeat in Australia after the home team setup a daunting 450run target when it declared its second innings at 2335 around half an hour after lunchPakistans toporder batters crumbled against the relentless pace of Mitchell Starc Josh Hazlewood and captain Pat Cummins on a wicket that had variable bounce with plenty of batters taking body blowsHazlewood and Starc snared six wickets between them while Cummins nicely setup former Pakistan captain Babar Azam 14 before finding the outside edge of his bat as the visitors had no answer to Australias nippy fast bowling in the AUS vs PAK 1st TestLyon reached the 500wicket landmark when he successfully went for a leg before wicket referral against Faheem Ashraf and was embraced by his teammates The offspinner raised the ball to the applause of the Perth crowd as he became the third Australian bowler after the late Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath to join the exclusive club of eight playersLyon then clean bowled Aamer Jamal in the same over off a delivery which bounced no higher than ankle height to finish with 218 in his memorable test matchPakistan slumped to 173 inside the first seven overs of its daunting runchase Opener Abdullah Shafique fell caught behind to a brilliant Starc delivery in the first over as the leftarm fast bowler got his 200th test wicket at homeCaptain Shan Masood could make only 2 before he played a loose drive off Hazlewood and ImamulHaq was pinned leg before wicket by Starc with another gem of a delivery that came sharply into the lefthanderEarlier Usman Khawaja fell short of his deserved century before he holed out for 90 as Australia looked for quick runs after lunch Lefthanded Khawaja and Mitchell Marsh who remained unbeaten on 63 shared runaball 126 with Marsh scoring his second successive half century at his home groundResuming Sunday at 842 Australia lost Steven Smith and Travis Head in the first hour of the day as Pakistans bowlers took advantage of the tricky wicket and movement offered by the deterioriating Perth pitch to frequently trouble Australias battersAlso ReadIND vs SA ODIs Date time venue complete squads live streaming and moreAfter Smith and Marnus Labuschagne took painful blows on Day 3 Khawaja and Marsh also received nasty hits as the Aussies did their best to keep their wickets and bodies intact in a spicy morning sessionKhawaja reached his half century off 151 balls and Marsh lifted the hosts scoring rate with his some exquisite drives on both sides of the wicket as Pakistan was sloppy in the field with captain Shan Masood dropping a regulation catch of Marsh at midoff when the batter was on 23Debutant fast bowler Khurram Shahzad who took both the Australian wickets to fall on Saturday continued his fine start to test cricket by getting Smith 45 leg before wicket to reduce Australia to 873 It was the second time in the match Shahzad had captured Australias premier batterFellow debutant Aamer Jamal who took 6111 in Australias first innings of 487 got Head for the second time as Australias oneday international World Cup star holed out to ImamulHaq at midoff for 14The second test of the threematch series starts on Boxing Day at Melbourne with Sydney hosting the third test from Jan 3 to 7With agency inputs