Nathan Lyon joins Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Dale Steyn in epic list with match-winning five-for, ends 24-year wait

Nathan Lyon spun Australia to a 115-run win against Pakistan on Day 5 of the third and final Test in Lahore to help his team wrap up a 1-0 series win.

Nathan Lyon spun Australia to a 115-run win against Pakistan on Day 5 of the third and final Test in Lahore to help his team wrap up a 1-0 series win. With the first two Tests in Rawalpindi and Karachi ending in a draw, something had to give in Lahore to force out a winner. And in the end, it was the wily old fox Lyon, who turned the game for his side as Australia register their first win in Pakistan since 1998.

Nathan Lyon picked up his 19th Test five-wicket-haul.  (Getty)

Australia made a bold call to declare their second innings on 227/3, setting Pakistan a target of 351 runs and giving themselves four sessions to pick up 10 wickets. It proved to be the correct call as Lyon finished with 5/83 and skipper Pat Cummins grabbed 3/23 to roll over Pakistan for 235. Barring half-centuries from Imam-Ul-Haq and captain Babar Azam, the rest of the Pakistan batters failed to put up any sort of effort.

Cummins' match-haul of eight wickets earned him the Player of the Match award over Lyon, who registered the 19th five-wicket-haul of his Test career. The feat is all the more special for Lyon as it gives him the distinction of being only the sixth bowler in the history of Test cricket to record a five-for in eight different nations, i.e. - Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies. The legends to have achieved it before him are Dale Steyn, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.

Besides, Lyon accomplished another high with his five-for. The Australia bowler became the first Australia bowler to pick up a five-wicket-haul in Pakistan since former leg-spinner Stuart MacGill. He had taken 5/83 in the Rawalpindi Test during Australia's 1998 tour of Pakistan. The late great Warne had two five-fors in Pakistan, both coming in the 1994 tour. Also, the victory gives Australia their maiden Test series win in Asia since 2011, when they had beaten Sri Lanka 1-0.