Australians 207 for 2 (Finch 54, Shaun Marsh 54*, Mitchell Marsh 53*) trail Pakistan A 278 (Abid Ali 85, Lyon 8-103) by 71 runs
Matt Renshaw suffered a blow to the helmet while fielding at short leg and was subsequently substituted out of Australia’s four-day warm-up fixture against Pakistan A in Dubai. Pakistan A agreed to the visitors replacing Renshaw with Marnus Labuschagne for the rest of the match.
“He’s okay. Obviously a pretty heavy knock to the head there but he’s been with the medical staff all afternoon,” Aaron Finch said of Renshaw’s condition. “He seems to be in really good spirits and is confident that his headaches are subsiding pretty quickly.”
That was perhaps the only blip for the Australians on day two. After dismissing Pakistan A for 278 from an overnight 247 for 6, they trimmed their deficit to 71 at stumps, for the loss of only two wickets, thanks to half-centuries from opener Finch and the Marsh brothers. Finch, who has been pencilled in for a Test debut in Dubai, dominated an 82-run partnership for the first wicket with 54 off 91 balls, including seven fours. The stand ended when left-arm seamer Waqas Maqsood had Finch caught behind in the 31st over. Eleven overs later, Usman Khawaja, the other opener, fell to Iftikhar Ahmed for 36 off 131 balls. Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Marsh then got together and raised fifties in an unbroken 103-run stand to boost their side to 207 for 2 at stumps.
Wahab Riaz, who is part of Pakistan’s Test squad, went wicketless in 12 overs.
Earlier, Nathan Lyon, who had claimed five wickets on day one, added three more to his tally to end with 8 for 103. Abid Ali, meanwhile, added only two to his overnight 83 before Lyon had him caught by wicketkeeper Paine in the 96th over.
Mitchell Starc picked up his first wicket in competitive cricket since March 2018, when he dismissed Wahab for 12 off 4 balls. In all, the Australians needed only 7.1 overs on day two to bowl out the hosts.
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