Pat Cummins finished with 10 wickets in the match as Australia beat Pakistan by 79 runs inside four days in Melbourne to seal a Test series victory.

Captain Cummins took 5-49 as Pakistan were bowled out for 237 in their second innings, chasing 317 for victory.

The match was delicately poised with Pakistan 219-5 before they lost their last five wickets for just 18 runs.

The last four batters all fell for ducks, with Mitchell Starc supporting Cummins with 4-55.

Victory gives Australia an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, with the final Test starting on 2 January in Sydney.

Australia resumed day four on 187-6 and Alex Carey's half-century boosted them to a commanding lead, finishing 262 all out with Pakistan seamers Shaheen Afridi and Mir Hamza taking four wickets each.

But the tourists' chase started poorly with Abdullah Shafique falling for just four in the fifth over, the day after he had dropped Mitchell Marsh - scorer of a match-winning 96 - on 20.

The experience of captain Shan Masood, with 60, and Babar Azam, who scored 41, appeared to have steered Pakistan out of trouble, before Mohammad Rizwan's 35 and Salman Agha's half-century put them in a position to chase victory.

But Rizwan's dismissal by Cummins, who also removed the well-set Masood, sparked a dramatic collapse and Agha found no support from the lower order.

Cummins was named player of the match for his bowling display, which included 5-48 in Pakistan's first innings, as he finished with match figures of 10-97. It is the second 10-wicket haul of his career.

The series victory caps a remarkable year for the 30-year-old, who led Australia as they retained the Ashes in England in the summer and then won the World Cup in November.

Source: BBC

BDST: 1300 HRS, DEC 30, 2023
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