By Abhay Vajpayee

Pakistan gave a humiliating display of incompetence in batting and captaincy and even after being on top for three days against mighty Australia capitulated on the last and lost the second Test match at Sydney. With that it became certain that the Pakistani team would be hard pressed to regroup and display a different approach in future. This was the golden opportunity they lost. All the good work the Pakistani bowlers did was brought to naught by the batsmen in the second innings and by defensive tactics by their Captain Mohd Yusuf.

Whoever had heard of Australia folding for a mere 127 runs in a Test match? It did happen and Pakistan scored 333 runs (they could have made more) to gain a lead of  206 runs. However, the Australians in their second innings made some amends to their miserable display in the first and scored 381 runs, thanks to a century by Hussey who remained unbeaten for 134 runs.

Pakistan had the match in their grip and had to score only 175  runs to beat the Australians for a well deserved victory. They failed miserably and were shot out for 139 to give the Aussies a stunning win by 36 runs. The Australian resilience and determination were on display one more time. Their bowlers never gave up and Hauritz got 5 for 53 and the old warrior Johnson 3 for 27 to humiliate Pakistan.

In the second Australian innings the Pakistani bowlers downed 8 wickets and the Aussie lead was just 80 runs. However, Australia became just the sixth team in Test history to triumph after trailing by 200-plus on the first innings. A resolute 123-run ninth-wicket partnership between Michael Hussey and Peter Siddle saw Australia claw back into a contest they had almost lost on the first day. But they had a penetrative final-day bowling display to complete a great comeback in history.

With the target of only 176 runs Pakistanis were sensing a well deserved victory. But they could not imagine that the mighty Australians have the inner strength to try and wrest the initiative  with their well crafted bowling attack and tight fielding.

Hauritz began his series-clinching spell with a caught-and-bowled catch that threatened his further participation in the contest. Pakistani Captain's delayed aggression found a fierce drive landing in the safe hands of Hauritz who was badly hurt in the successful catch. The catch badly injured the bowler's left thumb that needed   medical treatment.

Undeterred, Hauritz inflicted further damage on the Pakistani batsmen and with the able help from Johnson finished the visitor's dream of a victory. The third Aussie bowler to add insult to injury to Pakistani batting was Bollinger who had two wickets.

Earlier Hussey who had completed a match-saving century and Siddle with his highest Test score of 38 runs added 123 runs to the Aussie score. The lead of 175 runs became formidable for the Pakistani batsmen who did not display any determination or care to keep their wickets and keep scoring. The result was sheer humiliation and a golden opportunity lost.