The predictably unpredictable and consistently inconsistent Pakistan cricket team achieved another feat on Friday – an unwanted feat of becoming the first team to lose the Test by an innings after declaring first innings with 400 on board.
Pakistan declared their first innings after scoring 443 runs for 9 wickets in Melbourne but were brushed aside for 163 in the second innings in reply to Australia’s first innings score of 624, to lose the Test by an innings and 18 runs.
The defeat is also only the 5th in history of Test cricket for teams losing the match by an innings after scoring 400 or more in the first innings of a Test match. Interestingly, three of the mentioned five incidents came in December 2016; the other two this month were for hapless England in India.
Filtering out the defeat margin would make this the only 11th Test defeat for a team after declaring its first innings with 400 or more runs on the board.
This is also Pakistan’s 5th Test defeat in a row; the streak includes two defeats against New Zealand and one against Australia.
By losing the Melbourne Test in an unexpected style, Pakistan have also bettered their record of a team losing most consecutive Tests at home of any opponent. It was Pakistan’s 11th defeat on Australian soil – two more than India and West Indies consecutive defeats, also in Australia.
In Pakistan’s first innings of Melbourne Test, Azhar Ali scored an unbeaten 205 runs to become first Pakistani batsman to score a double century in Australia. However, after the defeat he has also become the first Pakistani to score a double century in a losing game. The previous highest score in a losing match for Pakistan was 197 by Mohammad Hafeez in Sharjah vs New Zealand.
Azhar’s double ton is also the second to be scored by a player from the team to lost the Test by an innings’ margin after 202* by Len Hutton for England vs West Indies.
Yasir Shah conceded 207 runs in the 41 overs he bowled, which made him the first bowler in history to concede 200 runs twice in a calendar year. He also conceded 213 runs in Manchester Test against England earlier this year.
