Stats: Usman Khawaja's dream homecoming, and end of Australia's overseas drought
Reverse swing came to the rescue of the pace bowlers in tough bowling conditions, as opening batters made merry
The inaugural Benaud-Qadir Trophy was the perfect homecoming for Usman Khawaja, the Player of the Series in Australia's triumph. Playing for the first time in Pakistan, the country of his birth, Khawaja struck two hundreds and came close twice before falling in the 90s. His series aggregate of 496 runs is the second-highest for a visiting opener in Pakistan, behind Mark Taylor's 513 in 1998.
Victory in Lahore not only handed Australia their third Test series win in Pakistan, but also their first series win away from home in six years. Their last away series win had come back in February 2016, when they beat New Zealand 2-0.
The opening batters were amongst runs throughout the series, hitting five centuries and seven fifties between them. Pakistan openers Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique got a combined three hundreds in Rawalpindi, while Khawaja scored two tons in the series and was part of crucial opening stands with David Warner.
Not much assistance was on offer for the bowlers in this series, making them toil hard for wickets. All three matches in the series went at least as far as until an hour after tea on the final day. The bowlers of both teams collectively picked up 71 wickets, one every 102.9 balls on an average, the worst bowling strike rate in a three-plus matche series since 2001.
Pace bowlers had a tough time in the Rawalpindi Test, where they had only four wickets. Karachi and Lahore were no different, but the low bounce and reversing old ball came to their rescue. Throughout the series, a 30-over old ball produced 19 wickets for pace bowlers - at an average of 20.05 during the period of overs 31-60 and 111-140, and a strike rate of 47.7.
Sampath Bandarupalli is a statistician at ESPNcricinfo