Matthew Hayden recalls famous Sharjah test match where Pakistan got bowled out for 59 and 53
Pakistan's combined total of two innings couldn't surpass Hayden's individual score in that test match
The former Australian opening batsman Matthew Hayden has recalled that famous Sharjah test match of 2002 where Australia had bowled out Pakistan for less than the score of 60 in both the innings in their own backyard and had won the game by an innings.
Generally, Sharjah produces the conditions which assist the spinners and in those sorts of conditions, you would think that Pakistan would have an upper hand on Australia, but as it turned out, Australia just completely made a mockery of Pakistan batting on a slow and spin-friendly surface.
Pakistan batted first in the game and were bowled out for just 59 in the first innings. Australia’s spin king Shane Warne was the highest wicket-taker with 4 wickets, but the fast bowlers chipped in with wickets at regular intervals as well.
And then in reply, Australia posted 310 runs on the board, out of which Matthew Hayden himself scored a hundred and was the top scorer for the Kangaroos with 119 runs.
It must have been a memorable test match for Matthew Hayden and the whole Australian team
A better fight was expected from the Pakistanis in the second innings as they had conceded a lead of over 250 in the first innings, but they were bowled out in the 50s again, this time at 53 which was an even lesser score than the first innings.
It was such a terrible batting performance by Pakistan, then their whole combined score of two innings together didn’t even surpass Matthew Hayden’s individual score of one innings.
Matthew Hayden shared the memory of that test match in one of his Instagram stories earlier today. Interestingly, Hayden is now going to be the batting consultant of the Pakistan cricket team in the upcoming T20 World Cup in the UAE. He was appointed in the role by PCB’s new chairman Ramiz Raja after he took charge of the board recently.
