PAK vs AUS: Lyon on cusp of achieving unique bowling milestone in Lahore, set to surpass Shane Warne in elusive list

Lyon in Karachi removed Babar Azam and Faheem Ashraf in successive deliveries but Mohammad Rizwan's ton left Australia stranded three wickets away from the win.

It was an anti-climatic end in Karachi for Australia in their first tour of Pakistan in 28 years. They needed eight wickets on the final day of the Test to go 1-0 up in the three-match Test series. Pakistan, on the other hand, required 314 runs in 90 overs to script one of the greatest chases in the history of Test cricket. (

Shane Warne (L) and Nathan Lyon (Getty Images)

The hosts came out triumphant in the end, with Babar Azam (196) and Abdullah Shafique (96) forging a marathon partnership and Mohammed Rizwan staying unbeaten on 104 to help Pakistan put up their sixth-highest fourth innings total of all time.

Australia's workhorse Nathan Lyon did add some spark in the final session. He removed Babar and Faheem Ashraf in successive deliveries but Rizwan's ton left Australia stranded three wickets away from the win. Lyon finished with bowling figures of 4/112 while bowling a staggering 55 overs in the innings.

With the first two Test matches ending in a draw, it will be a winner-takes-all situation in the third and final game in Lahore on Monday. And, Lyon would look to tick off a unique milestone to eclipse late Shane Warne in a unique bowling list. The third-highest wicket-taker for his team in Test cricket with 421 plucks, Lyon stands just 26 overs away from bowling most deliveries by an Australian bowler in Asia over the course of a three-match Test tour.

Warne had bowled 168 overs (1008 deliveries) against Sri Lanka in 2004, which was his first series after serving a 12-month doping ban. He had scalped 26 wickets at an average of 20.04 in the three-Test assignment.

Lyon in total has bowled a total of 142 overs (852 balls) at Rawalpindi and Karachi. He's picked up six wickets so far in the Benaud-Qadir Trophy to be Australia's top wicket-taker in the series.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald has also reserved praise for Lyon despite his team being left frustrated in the Karachi draw. They have now tallied five such failures to bowl out teams on Day 5 for victory in their last 19 Tests.

"He's been extremely good, morale wise. I didn't sense frustration, I sensed a person that was in a contest and at times getting himself engaged in that. There wasn't a lot on offer as we saw, we thought the wicket would deteriorate a lot sooner than it did in terms of the last three hours of the game.

"I thought he bowled extremely well on the last day, his line was excellent, and he got stopped by a serious player in Babar. I thought Nathan bowled extremely well, he got his rewards late and unfortunately, the team fell short but the way he went about it, we can't question that," said McDonald ahead of the third Test.

Lyon also surpassed Harbhajan Singh's wickets tally by claiming four wickets in Karachi. On the finger spinner panel in the traditional format, he is currently surpassed only by Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath (433 from 93) and fellow off-spinner R Ashwin (from India, 442 from 86) and Muttiah Muralitharan (800 from 133).