Pakistan batter Imam-ul-Haq was on a roll against Australia on the first day of the first Test in Rawalpindi. The home side, after winning the toss elected to bat first, were off to a magnificent start as the openers Imam and Abdullah Shafique put up a partnership of 105 runs for the first wicket.
But Australia finally got the breakthrough when Shafique played one in the air and was caught by Pat Cummins off Nathan Lyon for 44. Imam was then joined by Azhar Ali in the middle and the left-right batting duo dominated the Australian bowling unit thoroughly.
While Imam brought up his maiden Test hundred, courtesy a drive through the covers on a length delivery from Mitchell Starc, Azhar also notched up a fifty during the course.
The track in Rawalpindi seemed to have something on offer for the spinners in the early stage of the game but the openers negotiated that well and the top-order later frustrated the Australian bowlers.
Only Lyon managed to scalp a wicket out of the eight bowlers who were put in the attack by the captain. Pakistan were 245/1 at stumps.
The left-handed opener later expressed his joy after reaching the milestone.
“I cannot explain how I feel now. Coming back into the Test side, I wanted to make it count. I have been practicing hard in the last two and a half years. Special mention to the camp we had in Karachi. I last played against Australia and then got injured against New Zealand. And then was the twelfth man for a long time. You need to keep working hard. You need to learn from your mistakes and never lose your belief,” he said.
This is the first time in 24 years that Australia are touring Pakistan. The visitors would need to pick early wickets on Day 2 to get the side back on track.