Dubai: Fast bowler Mitchell Johnson was the pick of the Australia bowlers as Pakistan reached 219 for four on the first day of the first Test at Dubai International Stadium here on Wednesday.
The left-armer bowled took three wickets from his 20 overs, 13 of which were maidens, and gave away just 22 runs.
When asked why Australia couldn’t take a firm grip of the match after reducing Pakistan to seven for two, Johnson said: “We started well. We got two early wickets, which is what we like to do, and after that the wicket was fairly slow and not much happened.
“We got the ball to reverse and were a bit unlucky at times with a few plays and misses in the middle there, but the wicket was pretty dead and slow.”
Johnson is hopeful that the second new ball, which was taken shortly before the close, will do the trick in the morning.
“For the second new ball tonight there was enough there, a little bit of swing. It felt like there was still enough off the seam as well,” he said.
“You have really got to use that new ball and make them play early on. We have to turn up and start pretty well. The ball is still pretty new and in good condition as well, so the first couple of overs are going to be important for us.
‘Big footmarks’
“We are going to see it turn through this match. It is probably going to get a bit more exciting as the game goes on. The wicket will probably break up a bit more and we have already seen pretty big footmarks out there. So I think there is going to be some pretty exciting cricket coming up in this match.”
Johnson is pleased with his team’s position.
“We are happy to be in this position and we just need to get ourselves right and turn up in the morning. It is definitely going to turn a lot more. We saw Nathan Lyon turning it out of the foot marks late,” he said.
