Pakistan vs Australia, 2nd Test at Karachi, PAK v AUS, Mar 12 2022 - Ball by Ball Commentary

5.44 pm What a thrilling final session that was. Both sides giving everything, throwing punch after punch but the final bell sounds with both sides still standing. Rizwan and Babar the heroes for Pakistan and their names are being chanted around the ground as the squads come out of the change rooms to commence the handshake line.

Asim: "From Pakistan's point of view, man of the match should be Pat Cummins for not enforcing the follow-on." He'll be second guessed about that for a long time.

Mohammad Rehan: "Had Australia enforced Follow-on they would have 22 more overs to get remaining 3 wickets. Proved to be costly decision for AUSTRALIA"

Sundar: "Mistake by Cummins. After Lyon prised the door open, shoulda let Starc loose at the tail, if not Cummins himself. Swepson was the wrong choice."

Haris: "Don't understand the criticism over Cummins. He made a good call to rest his bowlers to come back strong in the morning. It's just that Pakistan showed unbelievable grit rarely seen before!"

Anuj: "Aussies threw it away by missing catches". There were plenty of those for sure.

Mahesh: ""The grass is always greener on the other side. Cummins did the right thing to give the bowlers the rest. Pakistan batted wonderfully to take this game to the draw""

Sree: "I don't understand people blaming Cummins for not enforcing the follow on without considering the fact that the innings would've progressed more differently considering the bowlers would've been tired. Even if we take as it is, Pakistan crossed the 408 runs mark and are ahead by 35 runs, so Australia would've had to chase. So, it's 20 overs and not 22. Considering the overs they need to chase, it's way less time to take 3 wickets."

James: "Suppose hypothetically Cummins didn't enforce the follow-on and Pakistan batted exactly the same way. They would be 7 down, about 30 runs ahead with 20 overs left in the game - a pretty decent chance of saving it from there. And Cummins would have been blasted for not enforcing the follow-on, with the failure to bowl Pakistan out being blamed on the bowlers' fatigue. He can't win."

Sumith: "Everyone questioning the declaration, at 21/2 and with 150 overs left, none of us gave Pakistan a chance. It was simply a phenomenal performance by 3 individuals that made the difference. Having said that Australia should not underestimate any batting order going forward. A draw is not a consolation when you dominate most part of a test match. "

Dave: "Starc, a noted tail destroyer, bowled one over in the last hour!" That was an interesting tactical call for sure.

6.00 pm Anyway... time for the post-match presentation to begin.

Babar Azam is named Player of the Match for producing the seventh highest fourth innings total of all time in Test cricket with his 196.

Australia captain Pat Cummins: [Asked if five and a half sessions to bowl Pakistan out was enough time] "Yeah I think so. You saw it was still a pretty good wicket even on day four or five. I thought they batted fantastically. I think we created enough chances, probably just didn't grab the couple half chances that were presented to us. But a great five days of Test cricket. I thought Mitch Swepson was fantastic on debut. His figures absolutely don't do him justice. In that middle session, I felt like he could have had three or four wickets going into the tea break. I thought he was fantastic. Nate bowled beautifully as well, as he always does on day fives chasing a win. I'm just really proud of the efforts. For an Aussie team to bat over two days at the start of a Test match, I don't think we've done that for a long time. So lots of great positives, nil-all in the series, lots to play for next week. The way we batted was fantastic. The way we really hunted those wickets on day three, the ball started reversing, I thought that was absolutely brilliant as well. So heaps of positives this week. I felt we were ahead of the game the whole time and that's not always the case in foreign conditions. So really proud of the boys."

Pakistan captain Babar Azam: [Translated from Urdu] "The plan was always to try and survive the overs, and even towards the end there were no serious discussions about chasing it. Pay tribute to Shafique and Rizwan. We are looking forward to going one better in Lahore."

That'll do it for commentary coverage of this Test. On to Lahore for the final part in the trilogy of Tests for this Australia tour of Pakistan before the ODIs take place back in Rawalpindi. On behalf of Alex Malcolm, I'm Peter Della Penna and thanks to all of you for following along each day. Come back on Monday for the start of the final Test. Keep your eyes peeled for post-match content being feverishly pumped out by Tristan Lavalette and Danyal Rasool after today's thrilling finale. Until next week, take care for now!

Two slips, gully, forward short leg, leg slip and silly mid-off crowded around Rizwan for Swepson's final over of the match.

The entire crowd is on their feet with mobile phones out to record the moment... Just two men around the bat now as Cummins pushes the field back. Only slip and forward short leg in now.

GeniusIQ: "Poor tactics by Cummins here."

Six men still around the bat. Three on each side of the wicket.

Lyon with his final six balls trying to get three wickets. 12 balls to go in the match overall.

Mudassar: "Due to bad lights only spin bowler can use ". Natural light is plenty bright. They're bypassing the quicks for strategic reasons.

Offcumden: "Swepson has joined a very elite club of Aussie leggies who have conceded 150 runs in an innings on test debut."

Arpit: "Why not Starc? Bring your strike baller in"

G-Rant: "What!!!! No Cummins? No Starc! "

Slip, leg slip, short leg, silly mid-on and silly mid-off in place.

Ansar: "Strange cricket! First a double then a dropped! "

Very long chat by Cummins with his leadership group. Labuschagne is being brought on to bowl leg spin with three overs to go! He's coming around the wicket to Nauman.

The crowd starts chanting, "Kha-wa-JAH! Kha-wa-JAH!" after that drop. Sense of humor amid all the tension.

Very long chat before this ball as Cummins pushes out some of the close in fielders to try to deny Rizwan a single.

Tuffey: "Isn't 17:30hrs is the official call off time?" No. Minimum of 15 overs need to be bowled once the final hour is called. So there will be three more after this.

Swepson continues. Six men around the bat. Three on each side. Short mid-on also in place halfway between Rizwan and Nauman.