There's been a lot of water under the bridge - and a lot of prison time served - since the last time Pakistan met Australia in a Test match. That came at Headingley when a side captained by Salman Butt and featuring other fine, upstanding cricketers like Danish Keneria, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir upset Ricky Ponting's tourists by three wickets. That was Pakistan's first win against these opponents since November 1995 and ended a sequence of thirteen consecutive defeats.
This week, Misbah-ul-Haq's men came to their adopted cricketing home of Dubai to face the number two side in the world - and enjoyed a convincing 221-run victory. Maybe it was the debut of someone called Imran Khan which evoked the spirit of probably Pakistan's greatest ever captain and all-rounder, but it was a useful combination of batting and bowling which did for an out-of-sorts Australia.
Michael Clarke had a miserable time on his return to the big time but Mitchell Johnson and David Warner did at least show some fight. Johnson and Siddle removed both Pakistan's openers for seven and Azhar Ali and Younis Khan had to knuckle down and rebuild the innings. Fortunately for them, they succeeded, laying the foundations for Misbah and Asad Shafiq to consolidate and then Sarfraz Ahmed to biff a run-a-ball century. Lyon and Smith took a pasting but credit to Johnson. His first-innings figures of 31-18-39-3 were astonishing for a strike bowler.
David Warner scored his ninth Test hundred in response but nobody else reached 40 as the Aussies subsided to 303 all out, 151 runs behind. Pakistan compounded their misery by declaring on 286-2 after Ahmed Shehzad and then Younis Khan reached three figures, the latter for the second time in the match. Zulfiqar Babar (aged 35 yet in only his third Test) and new boy Yasir Shah spun their side to victory on the final day, with only Smith and Johnson making 50. What Saeed Ajmal would have done we'll never know but Australia's spin duo of Steve O'Keefe (another debutant) and Nathan Lyon certainly struggled to extract the same from the pitch as the Pakistani twosome.
Clarke and Alex Doolan contributed only ten runs from their four attempts while Mitchell Marsh's red-ball debut in the green cap didn't exactly set the world alight. The Aussies need to restore their form in Tests quickly if they are to topple South Africa from their perch. Meanwhile, it's looking good for Misbah-ul-Haq. Another win next week would give them three in a row against Australia for the first time in more than three decades, in the era of Imran, Abdul Qadir, Zaheer Abbas and Javed Miandad. It will also mean a first series win since crushing England in the Middle East three years ago. Misbah is 40 now but, with Younis Khan's solid middle-order batting, he has done well to bring Pakistani cricket back into the fold. This may be a Test series but a defeat of Australia will bring renewed confidence going into the winter and the 2015 World Cup.
