It felt as if Pakistan walked into the fifth day of this Boxing Day Test in Melbourne thinking the match was just going to sleep towards a draw. After all, plenty of time had been lost by rain in this Test match, while not even two innings were done. Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc and the rest of the Australia team, however, had other ideas.
Starc played a blinder of an innings in the morning, smoking the hit-me-balls that Pakistan handed to him out of the park in his 84 (91b, 3x4, 7x6) before producing that magical reverse-swinging spell – a spell Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis would have been proud of – right at the end that had Pakistan floundering and eventually handing Australia a series win.
"We just had that belief and it kept everyone going out there," Starc told Channel 9. "We knew if we took those chances we created we could have a chance to win.
"We knew we only had two sessions to get those wickets. To get those as a bowling unit, we have done pretty well. To do that and win the Boxing Day Test match and then win the series it is great."
Starc's outstanding knock allowed Smith, who was not out on 165 (246b, 13x4, 1x6) to declare Australia's first innings at 624/8, which meant a lead of 181. It also allowed Australia a little under 70 overs to try and get Pakistan out.
That was always going to be a tall order considering how well Pakistan batted in the first innings and how little the wicket was helping the bowlers. The wicket had not broken up and reverse-swing was always going to be Australia's go-to option.
Before that, however, a few wickets were needed and after the pacers got the first couple, Nathan Lyon blew the Test match open with a three-wicket burst. Smith, rightly, has been criticised for not utilising Lyon to good effect, but this time, the off-spinner answered his captain's call.
Lyon dismissed the experienced duo of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, before taking the big wicket of the in-form Asad Shafiq. That left Pakistan five down with one session to go and that is where Starc came in.
The left-armer is near unplayable when he gets the ball reverse-swinging from around the wicket. For a right-hander it is next to impossible to play that angle when the ball is coming in and then tailing away late. Starc is the master of that art and he picked up three wickets in a hurry to give Australia a stunning victory.
Scores: First innings: Pakistan: 443/9 declared in 126.3 overs.
Australia: 624/8 declared in 142 overs.
Second innings: Pakistan: 163 all out in 53.2 overs.
Result: Australia won by an innings and 18 runs.
Series: Australia won the series 2-0, with one more to play.
Bowling: Second innings: Australia: Mitchell Starc 15.2-4-36-4; Josh Hazlewood 13-3-39-2; Jackson Bird 11-2-46-1; Nathan Lyon 14-4-33-3.
Fall of wickets: Second innings: Pakistan: 3/1, Sami Aslam (1.4 overs); 6/2, Babar Azam (4.1 overs); 63/3, Younis Khan (19.1 overs); 63/4, Misbah-ul-Haq (19.3 overs); 89/5, Asad Shafiq (29.5 overs); 101/6, Azhar Ali (34.4 overs); 143/7, Mohammed Amir (46.5 overs); 153/8, Sarfraz Ahmed (50 overs); 159/9, Wahab Riaz (51.5 overs); 163/10, Yasir Shah (53.2 overs).
