ISLAMABAD: Imam-ul-Haq scored his first test hundred to assist Pakistan with setting up 200 for the loss of one wicket after tea on the first day of the Test against Australia in Rawalpindi on Friday.
The bespectacled 26-year-old raised 105 runs with fellow partner Abdullah Shafique to give Pakistan a solid start after skipper Babar Azam’s picked to bat first.
Imam, who has scored 107 with the assistance of 13 fours and two sixes for his first Test hundred, and Azhar Ali, on 44, had batted through the whole second session to baffle Australia.
Imam was not totally at ease at first yet utilized his feet well against the spinners hitting Nathan Lyon for two sixes during his hundred.
Australia players wore dark armbands in memory of wicketkeeper batter Rod Marsh who passed at the age of 74 on Friday.
Lyon, at last, broke the partnership when Abdullah ventured out just to sky the ball up high, permitting Cummins to run from mid-off to take a tumbling stunner.
All-rounder Cameron Green, who was not born when Australia last visited Pakistan in 1998, was squeezed into the squad in the second session yet with no wicket.
Playing XI:
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (c), Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah
Australia: Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Match officials: Aleem Dar and Ahsan Raza (on-field), Asif Yaqoob (third umpire), Rashid Riaz (fourth umpire); Ranjan Madugalle (match referee).