Pakistan's Agha Salman clocks his fifth Test fifty: Key stats
What's the story
Pakistan all-rounder Agha Salman slammed a valiant fifty against Australia in the second innings of the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne. Despite Salman's fifty, Australia won the match by 79 runs and wrapped up the series with a 2-0 lead heading into the third match. This was the 30-year-old's fifth Test half-century and first against Australia. Here we decode his stats.
Knock
A fighting hand from Salman
Salman came to the crease when Pakistan were 162/5 and were chasing 317 on a day four pitch. He batted brilliantly with Mohammed Rizwan and added 57 runs, taking Pakistan over the 200-run mark. Salman continued his exploits even after Rizwan's dismissal. He added 18 runs with Shaheen Afridi, providing some resistance. Eventually, he fell to Mitchell Starc just after completing his fifty.
Stats
A look at Salman's Test numbers
Playing his 11th Test match, Salman has amassed 756 runs at an impressive average of 44.47. Besides five fifties, the 30-year-old has hammered two centuries in this format. His highest Test score of 132* came against Sri Lanka while his other ton came against New Zealand. Against Australia, this was his first fifty, having scored 88 runs from two matches at 29.33.
Summary
A look at the match summary
Australia posted 318 after being asked to bat first as Marnus Labuschagne scored 63. Pakistan made 264 in response thanks to fifties from Abdullah Shafique (62) and Shan Masood (54). Pat Cummins claimed five wickets. Mitchell Marsh (96), Steve Smith (50), and Alex Carey (53) helped Australia finish at 262 in their second outing. Masood (60) and Salman's (50) efforts went in vain.