Thursday 30 October 2014 23:26, UK
Centuries from Younis Khan and Azhar Ali put Pakistan firmly in control on day one of the second Test against Australia.
Younis, having underpinned his side's victory in the series opener with knocks of 106 and 103 not out, was again in imperious form in Abu Dhabi, reaching 111 not out by stumps as Pakistan compiled a dominant score of 304-2. The 36-year-old was ably assisted on this occasion by Ali (101no).
Younis' efforts made him only the fourth Pakistani to achieve the feat of three tons in a row and the second of any nationality to do so against Australia - following England's Herbert Sutcliffe into the history books - while Ali could celebrate a sixth Test century.
Australia began by naming two changes to their side, Alex Doolan dumped for Glenn Maxwell and Steve O'Keefe dropped after his debut for Mitchell Starc.
Captain Michael Clarke called wrong at the toss and Misbah-ul-Haq unsurprisingly opted to bat first. It was the start of a gruelling day in the field for Australia.
Starc was given just one over with the new ball before Peter Siddle partnered Mitchell Johnson, and it was relatively quiet until the 15th over when Ahmed Shehzad cut loose with back-to-back fours.
It needed three overs of Nathan Lyon to make the breakthrough, the spinner finding a way past Shehzad's crooked bat and trapping him lbw on the crease for 35.
Hafeez and Ali played cautiously up to lunch, walking off at 82-1. The first nine overs of the afternoon session cost only 12 and the 10th brought the wicket of Hafeez, who nicked Johnson to Brad Haddin for 45.
That brought together the dogged Ali and the in-form Younis, a pair who would still be together at the close having added 208 runs.
Younis quickly overhauled Ali's 15-run head start and did the bulk of the scoring before tea, reaching the break on 49 to his partner's cautious 26 and hitting six boundaries along the way.
The final session, elongated to 36 overs due to Australia's slow rate, saw Pakistan pile on 146 additional runs to fully cement their position.
Younis' fifty came from the very first ball but Azhar needed a little more help. He offered a couple of half-chances, first to short-leg off Lyon then an even tougher one evading David Warner from Steve Smith's leg-spin.
The final hour was a procession to the pair's centuries, Younis flogging Lyon for the only six of the day in the 74th over and reached three figures in 128 balls.
Ali joined him from the penultimate delivery of the day, having taken a more leisurely 223 deliveries.
