In a super exciting cricket match at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Pakistani player Aamer Jamal played an amazing innings of 82 runs in the ongoing third Test against Australia on January 3 (Wednesday).
Jamal batted at No. 9 and faced the tough Australian bowlers with aggressive shots that wowed the crowd. When he came to bat, Pakistan’s score was 220/7, and it was a bit of a tricky situation. But Jamal didn’t back down and scored his first fifty in Test cricket.
Even when the Australian bowlers sent short deliveries, Jamal confidently pulled them to the leg side. He even hit a fantastic six by reverse-sweeping Nathan Lyon over deep point.
Thanks to Jamal’s outstanding performance, Pakistan reached a total score of 313 in the first innings. His 82 runs were more than a quarter of the team’s total.
Jamal’s entertaining innings came to an end when he was caught at long-on off Lyon’s bowling. Despite that, he achieved several milestones during his innings against Australia.
#1 First Pakistani to make a half-century and take a five-wicket haul in debut Test series
Aamer Jamal is having a remarkable debut Test series Down Under. In his first series, Jamal is playing the all-rounder’s role magnificently. He is currently Pakistan’s fourth-highest run-scorer in the series with 125 runs at an average of 31.25 and has also taken 12 wickets (the most for Pakistan) at a bowling average of 23.08.
Interestingly, Jamal is now the first-ever Pakistani player to score a half-century and take a five-wicket haul in his debut Test series. He achieved his maiden Test fifer (6/111) in the first innings of the opening Test in Perth.
#2 Highest individual Test score by a subcontinent No. 9 batter in Australia
Another record that Aamer Jamal broke on Wednesday is becoming the subcontinent batter with the best individual Test score while batting at No. 9 in Australia. Jamal’s 82 runs surpassed his countryman Wasim Bari’s 72. Bari, batting at No. 9, scored 72 against Australia in Adelaide in a Test in 1972. For India, Kiran More scored 67* against Australia in Melbourne in 1991.
#3 Joint-second-most sixes for Pakistan at No. 9 in a Test innings
Jamal showed great aggression and hit nine fours. He also smashed four powerful sixes during his innings, which is tied for the second-most by Pakistan at No. 9 in a Test innings.
The record for the most sixes is currently held by Wasim Akram and Noman Ali, both hitting five sixes while batting at No. 9 against India (in 1987) and Zimbabwe (2021), respectively.
With his four sixes, Jamal now joins the ranks of Sohail Khan, Wasim Akram, Umar Gul, and Abdul Qadir on the list.
#4 Second-highest tenth-wicket partnership for Pakistan vs Australia
Aamer Jamal and Mir Hamza worked together to trouble the Aussie team and put together a partnership of 86 runs in 133 balls. While Jamal was very aggressive, Hamza played defensively and faced 43 balls for his unbeaten seven runs.
Their 86-run partnership is now the second-best 10th-wicket partnership for Pakistan against Australia in Tests. They missed out on breaking the 87-run partnership between Asif Iqbal and Iqbal Qasim in Adelaide in 1976 by just one run.
#5 Highest score by a visiting No. 9 batter at SCG
After all the excitement, Aamer Jamal was just one boundary away from breaking a record set 129 years ago by Albert Trott. Back in 1895, Trott scored 85* against England, batting at No. 9 in Sydney while playing for Australia.
If Jamal had scored just four more runs, he would have become the top No. 9 individual run-scorer at SCG. Still, among visiting batters, he now holds the record. Jamal’s 82 is now the best score by a visiting batter at SCG.
Jamal surpassed Harbhajan Singh’s record, who made 63 off 92 against Australia in 2008.
