Australia has put Pakistan to the sword on the first day of the Second Test with David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne looking invincible against the spluttering Pakistan attack.
In a day of misery for the tourists, rain proved to be the only thing capable of stopping Australia’s top order.
After the early wicket of Joe Burns, Warner and Labuschagne continued their red hot form with a 250-run partnership that put Pakistan on the ropes with still four days to play.
Warner and Labuschagne’s unbeaten partnership of 294 runs has Australia in the commanding position of 1/302 heading into the second day of play on Saturday.
It has also stolen Aussie coach Justin Langer’s 21-year record with Mark Taylor, set in Peshawar in 1998, for the highest second wicket partnership by an Australian pair against Pakistan.
Warner (166 from 228 balls) and Labuschagne (126 from 205) were rarely troubled by the deplorable Pakistan attack and it all spells another long, miserable day for the field for the tourists on Saturday.
Labuschagne became Test cricket’s leading run-scorer for 2019, despite missing the first two Ashes tests.
Labuschagne’s century was also his second straight and allowed him to overtake Steve Smith at the top of the Test run charts – his unbeaten 126 taking him to 793 for the calendar year.
After Joe Burns fell early for just four, Warner and Labuschagne didn’t offer any real chance for the rest of the evening against an ill-disciplined Pakistan attack.
Things could have been far worse for the tourists too, had rain not washed away 17 overs for the day in a two-hour delay either side of the tea break. The pair’s stand was the highest in pink-ball history, overtaking the 248 runs Englishmen Joe Root and Alastair Cook combined for against West Indies in 2017.
The tourists meanwhile were their own worst enemies.
They bowled poorly, with debutant Muhammad Musa regularly being far too short and the recalled Mohammad Abbas having virtually no impact.
At one stage they bowled part-time offspinner Iftikhar Ahmed in the second over after the dinner break, when the pink ball is hardest to face under lights. And they were generally poor in the field, missing run-out chances and offering up an extra five runs in overthrows.
Shaeen Shah Afridi also produced two howlers on the boundary, one time kicking the ball over the rope and at another point running the wrong way on a ball hit straight at him.
He did however provide the only highlight for Pakistan with ball in hand, getting Burns edging behind cheaply.
It turned very ugly, very quickly for them after that one moment, however.
Here’s how the day one drama unfolded.
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David Warner made it back to back 150-run knocks in a summer of record-breaking performances.
Warner and Marnus Labuschagne also took their partnership past the 250-run mark – but only after a moment of high drama.
Labuschagne was very nearly run out in the 68th over when he scampered back for a second run that was only bunted into space near square leg.
Labuschagne would have been more than 1m out of his crease if the throw from Imam ul-Haq had have been anywhere near the mark.
Instead thr throw bounced wide of keeper Mohammad Rizwan.
Aussie test legend Ricky Ponting described the run as "suicide".
"That's ordinary running. Out by two or three yards if that throw is anywhere near the stumps,' he said,
"That was terrible running. It is one thing to be proactive, but that was pretty much suicide. A decent throw here, Labuschagne is not even in the picture."
Just a few overs later, Warner and Labuschagne's partnership went past 279 runs, becoming the highest second wicket partnership in the history of test match cricket between Australia and Pakistan.
The milestone saw them pass the previous record of legends Justin Langer and Mark Taylor set in 1998.
Marnus Labuschagne's freakish form has continued as he brought up his second test hundred in the last eight days.
The promising No. 3 brought up the milestone in style with a classy leg side flick for two runs quickly following a down-town slog over Yasir Shah's head that landed just inches in front of the boundary rope.
Labuschagne's knock
Since returning to the Aussie team during the Ashes, Labuschagne's consistent numbers make for extraordinary reading.
His most recent scores in test cricket are: 100*, 185, 48, 14, 67, 11, 74, 80 and 59.
David Warner shoulder charged Yasir Shah and dropped his bundle when scooting down to the non-striker's end to bring up back-to-back test hundreds.
Warner's brilliant knock backed up his innings of 154 in Brisbane.
The star opener brought up triple-figures from 157 balls after being caught on 99 for two maiden overs.
Across the Aussie summer of cricket so far this year, Warner is now averaging more than 270 across his Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka and the Twenty20 and test series against Pakistan.
His combined knocks of 100*, 60*, 57*, 2*, 20, 48*, 154, 100* have him in rare territory.
Pakistan still can't find a way to trouble in-form Aussie dup David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne.
The pair pushed Australia to 1/139 after navigating the session without dropping a wicket.
Labushage (60 runs from 118 balls) started slow, but almost caught Warner (72 from 116) heading into the final session of play.
Teenage debutant Muhammad Musa has struggled for Pakistan with 0/47 from just nine overs.
Marnus Labuschagne continues to terrorise Pakistan after bringing up his half century before the dinner break.
Fresh from a first class career high score of 185 in Brisbane, Labuschagne brought up his fifty from 107 balls after a slow start where he scored just four runs from his first 38 balls.
He and Warner's partnership also went past 100 runs for the second straight innings.
David Warner was gifted his fifty on the back of four overthrows in the second over of play resuming.
Warner reached 53 from 73 balls. It was his second consecutive fifty and it took him to an average of 207 for the series after his knock of 154 in the First Test.
Aussie opener Joe Burns may have been dismissed for just four – but he was still happy to have a laugh during the marathon rain delay in Adelaide.
Burns dealt out some cold justice when interviewed by Channel 7's Ricky Ponting inside an Adelaide Oval commentary box, where he was happy to take shots at everyone but Steve Smith.
The Queenslander said he was "hurt" after learning captain Tim Paine had described him as the "team weirdo" in a recent interview.
If he was going down he was going to take David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne with him.
"I can’t believe that, that actually hurts quite a lot," Burns said.
"I feel like I am one of the most normal guys on the team. Especially when you compare me to Dave Warner.
"I am definitely the normal one of the two openers."
He also had a little needle when asked about Labuschagne's growing reputation as a quirky member of the dressing room.
"He is the weirdest person I have ever me," Burns said.
The only person Burns refused to touch was superstar batsman Smith.
He said: "I think if you average over 60 you can do whatever you want. No one can touch Smudge.
Paine, however, wasn't scared to knock Smith down a peg or two.
"Steve Smith is the best player in the world. Slightly weird as well," Paine said.
Officials announced play was scheduled to resume at 5.30pm (AEDT) after a rain delay of more than an hour – but the start of the second session was further delayed by a second shower just as the covers were being taken off the pitch.
The Aussie dressing room has been seen playing with a deck of cards and there doesn't look like being any play before at least 6pm (AEDT).
Tim Paine revealed this week he has made a decision to never send the opposition in to bat after he came under fire for his disastrous decision to send England in to bat in the Fifth Ashes Test this year.
Unfortunately for him, his half-serious comment was made just a day before the start of the day-night test in Adelaide.
The team that bats second has won all four of the most recent day-night tests.
However, Paine's Ashes captaincy scars appear much stronger than the telling recent history of day-night tests.
“What comes into my mind now is the grief you cop if you don’t bat first in a Test match and I have made that mistake a couple of times,” he told The Australian this week.
“So, I am a firm believer in batting first all the time.”
Paine won the toss and elected to bat.
David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne have safely navigated their way to the tea break with Australia 1/70.
The first session was cut short by five minutes when a brief shower passed over the Adelaide Oval before the scheduled break at 4.30pm (AEDT).
The pair pushed their partnership past 50-runs late in the session with Warner on 45 and Labuschagne on 18.
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