Australia impress but fail to force result in tour game against Pakistan 'A'

Australia will leave their only warm-up game for their Test series against Pakistan in good spirits despite only managing a draw against Pakistan 'A'. Crucially, ahead of a series where spin is set to play a big part, spinners Nathan Lyon and Jon Holland were both in the wickets.

Lyon's first innings performance was particularly impressive as he took 8/103 to help restrict Pakistan 'A' to 278 on a good surface in Dubai. Lyon, who is close to overtaking Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson to become Australia's fifth-highest wicket-taker in Tests, is likely to be joined by Holland in the Australia team for the first Test that starts on Sunday.

Pakistan were fielding an exceptionally strong second-string side featuring eight players who have played Test cricket for their country. Despite this, it was one of their uncapped players, Abid Ali, who was the biggest thorn in Australia's side in the first innings. Ali compiled a watchful 85 off 263 balls to put Pakistan in a strong position, but the rest of the middle order weren't able to offer such sturdy resistance as they crumbled against Lyon.

In response to the Pakistan 'A' innings, Australia were extremely impressive with the bat as they posted a daunting total of 494/4 as they batted for nearly two days. The Pakistani bowlers were made to toil as every Australia batsman passed at least 35. With this being the only warm-up game, the Australian set-up will be pleased at how quickly their batsmen have adapted to conditions in the United Arab Emirates.

The stand-out performers for Australia were the Marsh brothers and Travis Head, who is likely to make his Test debut on Sunday. Mitchell Marsh, recently appointed Australia's co-vice-captain alongside Josh Hazlewood, marked the news by scoring 162. After spending much of 2018 injured, Mitchell Marsh will be hoping to find the form he showed in last winter's Ashes series when he scored two hundreds for Australia and firmly established his place in the team.

Mitchell's older brother Shaun was also in the runs as he made 94 before he was bowled by Iftikhar Ahmed. Head also narrowly missed out on a century as he hit an unbeaten 90 before skipper Tim Paine declared overnight with his team 216 runs ahead.

Realistically, Pakistan 'A' had to bat through the day to avoid the defeat and despite a late scare, they did so reasonably comfortably. Four of their team's top five passed forty with Asad Shafiq top-scoring with 69. The Pakistan 'A' batsmen will likely rue this missed opportunity to stake an unavoidable claim for selection against a Test quality attack. At 213/3, three runs behind Australia and with fewer than thirty overs of play left, the game was seemingly meandering its way to a draw before Holland prompted a dramatic collapse that could have forced a result.

In a ten over spell, the left-arm spinner claimed four wickets as Pakistan managed to make a 45 run lead by the end of the final day at seven wickets down. For a short while, Australia would have fancied their chances in a short run chase, but the Pakistani lower order held firm. Holland, who has played just two Tests for Australia to date, is likely to play an important role in the impending Test series as Lyon's 'spin twin.'

Holland's second innings five-wicket-haul capped off an encouraging four days for Australia where both their spin-bowling and batting departments looked in prime condition for the two Test series. Australia haven't won a Test series away from home since they beat New Zealand two and a half years ago, and if their performance in this match is anything to go by, they are well set to improve on that mediocre recent record outside of Australia.