KARACHI: Australia on Saturday lost crucial batsmen David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne in quick succession, leaving the second Test against Pakistan in Karachi at 100-2 at lunch.
After winning the toss and opting to bat on a dry-looking National Stadium wicket, opener Usman Khawaja was batting on 52 and Steve Smith was on seven at the interval.
All-rounder Faheem Ashraf got the ball to nip away slightly, forcing Warner (36) to edge the ball to keeper Mohammad Rizwan after the Australian openers had amassed a solid 82-run stand.
Labuschagne was run out for nought nine deliveries later. The top-ranked batter in Test cricket fell to a direct hit from Sajid Khan while attempting a quick single.
Warner, whose last six innings against Pakistan include four centuries and two fifties, had greeted off-spinner Sajid into the attack with two sixes.
But Ashraf — recalled after missing the first Test due to injury — extracted some life from the pitch to grab the first breakthrough.
Khawaja has so far hit seven boundaries and a six in his 16th Test half-century.
He and Warner put on 63 runs in the first hour as Pakistan’s spin-and-pace attack found little response from the pitch.
Australian leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson is making his Test debut, replacing pacer Josh Hazlewood in the lineup, while Pakistan have brought in Hasan Ali and Ashraf.
The first match of the three-Test series ended in a draw in Rawalpindi.