PAKISTAN v AUSTRALIA 1988-89

At Lahore, October 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Drawn. Toss: Australia. A tense final day saw Australia go close to squaring the series. Even though he was without Reid, who had broken down the previous day, Border set Pakistan a target of 269 and left his bowlers five hours in which to dismiss them. Pakistan never accepted the challenge, but when off-spinner Taylor had Mudassar caught at slip, Yousuf caught at long-off, and Qadir stumped in the space of fourteen deliveries, they were 131 for seven with sixteen overs remaining. Ijaz, who batted almost two hours for his 15, and Iqbal kept the Australians at bay for another eleven overs, and Iqbal (77 minutes) and Tauseef provided the final resistance.

Once Border had marked his 97th Test match appearance, an Australian record, by winning the toss, the Australian batsmen settled into an eleven-hour war of attrition against the Pakistan bowlers. Jones continued his poor run, padding up to Tauseef in the over after Boon had been brilliantly caught at point. But Border joined Marsh in a stand worth 67 and was still there at the close. Marsh batted for 296 minutes for his 64. Just 41 runs came on the second morning for the loss of Border (274 minutes), and Australia looked to have conceded the initiative when they lost three wickets after lunch. Instead Waugh returned to form with a disciplined 59, receiving good support from Dodemaide and May.

On the third morning Pakistan's openers provided a solid start, although both survived chances to slip, and later Miandad was an hour and a half scoring the 18 runs he needed to reach 7,000 runs in Test cricket, having taken 85 minutes to enter double figures. With rain preventing play for 90 minutes between lunch and tea, Australia's hopes of forcing a victory were receding, but on the fourth day (the rest day was omitted to accommodate a one-day international after the Test) they captured the last seven Pakistan wickets for 68 and were batting an hour after lunch with a lead of 107. Marsh was again in splendid form, reaching his second half-century of the match off 82 balls in two hours. Jones collected a pair, but on the last morning Marsh and Taylor added 29 in three overs to set up Border's declaration.

Man of the Match: G. R. Marsh.

Close of play: First day, Australia 175-3 (A. R. Border 54*, G. M. Wood 5*); Second day, Pakistan 6-0 (Mudassar Nazar 1*, Ramiz Raja 4*); Third day, Pakistan 165-3 (Javed Miandad 24*, Salim Malik 22*); Fourth day, Australia 132-3 (G. R. Marsh 75*, P. L. Taylor 5*).