Bailey's four-wicket burst puts Australia ahead

Day 3 Australia A 510 and 2 for 57 (Rehman 2-3) lead Pakistan A 431 (Hafeez 180, Yousuf 71, Bailey 4-71) by 136 runs
Scorecard

A four-wicket burst by the legspinner Cullen Bailey orchestrated a lower-order collapse as Pakistan A conceded a first-innings lead of 79 on the third day of the Top End Series match against Australia A at Darwin. Mohammad Hafeez anchored the innings and fell 20 short of what would have been his first double-century in first-class cricket. Abdur Rehman, the left-arm spinner, took two wickets in successive overs late in the day as Australia finished at 2 for 57, with an overall lead of 136.

Earlier, Hafeez and Shahid Yousuf continued their good work from yesterday and made the most of the drop-in pitch which favoured the batsmen. The pair added 78 before Yousuf was trapped leg before to the Australia offspinner Dan Cullen for 71. After captain Misbah-ul-Haq departed 13 overs later, Bazid Khan and Hafeez had a good partnership going till Mitchell Johnson got the prized scalp of Hafeez, caught behind by Brad Haddin. His knock included 19 fours and three sixes. Pakistan felt the pressure when Hasan Raza was dismissed soon after with the score at 5 for 353, but Bazid and Mohammad Salman restored some order with a 52-run partnership. Bazid reached his half century, but his dismissal, trapped leg before to Bailey, sparked the collapse. Bailey ran through the lower order, picking the last three wickets to fall and finished with figures of 4 for 71 as Pakistan finished with 431. Johnson had the next best figures of 3 or 93.

Australia got off to a steady start in their second innings, with the openers Chris Rogers and Phil Jaques putting on 53. However, they were jolted by a double strike by Rehman, who first had Rogers caught by Rafatullah Mohmand. Mark Cosgrove didn't last long, and was caught for two in the fag end of the day.