Australia v Pakistan, 2016-17

At Melbourne, December 26-30, 2016. Australia won by an innings and 18 runs. Toss: Australia.
When the opposition declare on 443, and 141 overs have been lost to rain, and your own first innings ends just before lunch on the fifth day, you aren't meant to win. But, as The Strokes sang, this is the modern age: with a healthy dose of self-belief, Australia clinched the series with nearly an hour to spare. It was only the second time a side had declared and lost by an innings, after Australia themselves at Hyderabad in 2012-13.

They had begun the final day 22 ahead, with Smith - who resumed on 100 - believing a lead of 180 would be enough. Calculated walloping was required: Smith relied on invention, Starc on brutality. He clobbered seven sixes, a ground record in a Test innings, before holing out for 84. With phase one of the plan complete, phase two had the perfect start: Hazlewood bowled Sami Aslam before lunch, and Starc trapped Babar Azam first ball after it. Younis Khan then joined Azhar Ali - unbeaten for 580 minutes in Pakistan's first innings - and calmed things down. Enter Lyon, who woke to reports that he was bowling for his place, again. In the space of a session he secured his ticket to India: Younis and Asad Shafiq were caught via inside edges by Handscomb at short leg and, in between, Misbah-ul-Haq's second-ball sweep picked out backward square.

When Azhar was at last dismissed, lbw to Hazlewood at the beginning of the evening session, hopes of a draw evaporated, and masterful reverse swing from Bird and Starc secured victory. From Brisbane to Melbourne, Pakistan had regressed from nearly winning the unwinnable to abjectly losing the unlosable. They became the second country to lose by an innings having scored more than 400 batting first; England had done it four times, including twice earlier that month.

It all seemed unfair on Azhar. Through the first two and a half days, he had battled through one interruption after another, showing mental strength to complete a chanceless double-century, and passing 1,000 runs in the year along the way. Shafiq was the only other recognised batsman to reach 50, but Sohail Khan proved an unlikely partner on the third day, clobbering 65, with four sixes off Lyon. Soon after he fell, the parsimonious Hazlewood picked up Wahab, his 100th wicket in his 25th Test, and Misbah declared.

When Warner finally got his chance, in gorgeous conditions, he hit his first Test hundred at the MCG, and motored past 5,000 in all. It was high on fortune and low on fluency, but his 144 in 143 balls, and the 198 he added with Khawaja, put a dent in Pakistan's lead - and their confidence. Wahab overstepped ten times, including while yorking Warner on 81, the second in a hat-trick of no-balls. And Yasir Shah went at more than five an over, and conceded more than 200 for the second time in 2016. Khawaja looked classy, but just missed a century when he edged Wahab early on day four. Handscomb, on home turf, hit another fifty, then Smith flowed to his century - a third in successive Tests at the MCG - before rain ended play on the fourth evening. Australia had their lead and, thanks to Pakistan's ineptitude and Starc's genius, they were back to doing what they do best: winning series at home.
Man of the Match: S. P. D. Smith.