Australia vs Pakistan, 2nd Test at Melbourne, AUS v PAK, Dec 26 2023 - Match Result

6.25pm Australia win by 79 runs and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series and wins the Boxing Day Test. It felt like the match would go into the fifth day, but the pacers bowled their hearts out, led by their captain Pat Cummins, and once Babar Azam lost his wicket, Australia had an opening and kept breaking partnerships. The drop from Abdullah Shafique will haunt Pakistan, but they should be proud of themselves for making a significant improvement after the lopsided affair in Perth. Plenty of positives for the tourists. Gnasher will be here to cover the post-match presentation.

6.30pm Thanks Rvel. What a terrific Test match. Pakistan should think that overall this was a game they could have won. But it's also to their credit that they have pushed Australia harder at home than many sides of late. Cummins has produced one of the great days. What a year he's had as a captain and bowler. Time for the chats...

Shan Masood "We have to look at the bigger picture. The smiles are that there are a lot of positives. We can easily be 'what if', but if you give a quality side like Australia sniff like we did, sometimes with the ball and with the bat and also in the field if you drop someone in form like Mitchell Marsh, we might not have been chasing [317] today, but in the bigger picture this is the way we want to play Test cricket. Fighting until the end and a result was possible for us. It's a reflection of four days, the game kept turning. Pat Cummins came in with that spell and that's why he's one of the best bowlers in the world. Then again with the bat, Steve Smith and Mitch Marsh's partnership. From our guys, we've taken 20 wickets which we haven't done in Australia for a while, that's a box ticked, in terms of runs everyone got good starts but against quality sides we want to get 100s. A lot to work on. But this is a blueprint."

Pat Cummins (who is also player of the match) "Love playing here, Boxing Day is the biggest Test match each year. You've got a few options here, a bit of seam in the last few years, and I like a bit of up and down bounce. Little bit twitchy, felt okay but they were batting pretty nicely. Anything with a 3 in front of it was the aim, so we got that, felt like we had enough to bowl at but a little bit tight. Steve and Marsh's partnership got us back in the game, we were behind for a little while. They had their tails up, the wicket was tough. That was a huge partnership and gave us something to defend. Even at 4 for 16 the dressing room was really calm, there's real trust and support and it feels like each week another matchwinner stands up. Think we'll look back and remember 2023 as one of the special ones."

Well, what a four days that has been. Playing a superb pitch, which Shan Masood very impressively acknowledged at the end, too. Australia can't lose this series but there are still vital WTC points to play at Sydney in a few days time, which will also be David Warner's farewell to Test cricket. So they'll be a lot going on. For now, I'm going to wrap things up. From Gnasher and Rvel thanks for your company and see you again soon.

For those who are still ruminating over Rizwan's dismissal, here's the relevant MCC law of cricket:

5.6 Contact with the ball

In these Laws,

5.6.1 reference to the bat shall imply that the bat is held in the batter's hand or a glove worn on his/her hand, unless stated otherwise.

5.6.2 contact between the ball and any of 5.6.2.1 to 5.6.2.4

5.6.2.1 the bat itself

5.6.2.2 the batter's hand holding the bat

5.6.2.3 any part of a glove worn on the batter's hand holding the bat

5.6.2.4 any additional materials permitted under 5.4

shall be regarded as the ball striking or touching the bat or being struck by the bat

Former ICC umpire Simon Taufel on Channel Seven's broadcast in Australia: "For me, conclusive evidence was the ball on top of that wristband attached to the glove, with the spike (on Snicko). Very comfortable from where I'm sitting that Richard Illingworth the third umpire had conclusive evidence to overturn that decision."

Steve: "Aussie fan but unimpressed with the decision to give an extra 30mins to the team already well on top. They made it to the end of the day, were tired, rain might have saved them tomorrow, it was a decision that favoured only one team. Left a sour taste for me"

Khalid: "So if Rizwan's wristband had been a little shorter he wouldn't have been out. Absurd." Pakistan fans will not get over it soon that's for sure

Argon: "Those 52 extras will be haunting Pakistan..."

Kamran: "I blame the person who let Illingworth out of the elevator."

Liara Ibrahim : "You must be revelling in this topsy turvy game Rvel " I'm loving it