Australia, buoyed by Justin Langer’s 191, skittled Pakistan for 179 on the second day of the first test in Perth to take total control of the match. Ricky Ponting then decided against enforcing the follow-on as Australia reached 15 without loss in their second innings, for an overall lead of 217 by the close.Michael Kasprowicz took five for 30 from 16.3 overs while leg spinner Shane Warne claimed three for 38. Pakistan would have been in even more disarray if it had not been for a 60-run stand between Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami for the ninth wicket.“If you saw how Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami batted, really it was a disgraceful performance up the front (of the order),” Woolmer told reporters. “There were two terrible shots.which really were unnecessary, when we were just sort of building up a partnership. It was a very frustrating day.”In another blow for Pakistan, Shoaib limped off the field near the end of the day. The bowler, who took five for 99 in Australia’s first innings, was also fined 40 per cent of his match fee after pointing Matthew Hayden directions to the dressing room following his dismissal on Thursday.Australia had resumed on 357 for eight at the WACA and added a further 24 runs before Langer was the last man out after a magnificent 21st Test century. Langer batted for almost seven hours. Running out of partners, he was caught at point from an attempted lofted drive.Brief scoresAustralia: 381 (J Langer 191; S Akhtar 5/99, M Sami 3/104) & 15 for no loss vs Pakistan: 179 (Y Khan 42; M Kasprowicz 5/30, S Warne 3/38)After his 22-run over cost Australia the first of their recently-concluded ODI series against New Zealand, the clamour for Michael Kasprowicz’s ouster had begun. And with the speedster’s delight at the WACA set to play host to the Pakistanis for the first Test, it was more or less certain that Brett Lee would return alongside McGrath and Gillespie.But the selectors saw the ‘43’ next to Kasprowicz’s ‘wickets’ column for the season and chose to go with him. The selectors were right, as the gentle Queensland giant proved within eight overs. He had picked three by then. Two more would come as Kasprowicz worked on the Pakistani tail, to finish with figures of 5 for 30. Up in the order, he picked wickets two, three and four (of Salman Butt, Inzamam-ul Haq and Yousuf Youhana) and then later wickets seven and ten (Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Sami).Lee will now have to concentrate on the one-dayers and play water boy to Kasprowicz and his mates, because Kasprowicz is now part of the mainstream.Kasprowicz’s career average still shows a modest 31.91 from 28 Tests (before this one), but for the current season, he averages 26.16, and it’ll get even better after the Perth five-for.
