Dubai, United Arab Emirates : Younis Khan proved the selectors were wrong to drop him from Pakistan's limited-overs team by hitting a sedate 25th test century on Wednesday as Pakistan reached 219-4 on the opening day of the first test against Australia.
Younis, who had criticized the selectors for axing him from the ODI series against Australia, made 106 off 223 balls before he was trapped lbw by a sharp Mitchell Johnson (3-22) delivery with the second new ball.
Azhar Ali (53) shared a 108-run stand with Younis and defied Australia for nearly 3-1/2 hours after Johnson and Peter Siddle had earlier reduced Pakistan to 7-2.
Younis hit 10 fours and completed his first test hundred against Australia when he lofted offspinner Nathan Lyon over midwicket for his only six of the innings.
Captain Misbah-ul-Haq was unbeaten on 34 with Asad Shafiq not out on 9 at stumps.Dropped on 22, Ali made a sedate 53 off 167 balls, including six fours, before playing a loose drive off Mitchell Johnson (2-18) to give Australia its only wicket in the afternoon session.
Earlier, Johnson and Peter Siddle had cut Pakistan to 7-2 after Misbah won the toss and elected to bat. Johnson snared recalled Mohammad Hafeez leg before wicket off his third delivery through a toe crushing yorker for zero to give Australia a perfect start.
Ahmed Shehzad was then brilliantly setup by Siddle before he had him clean bowled round his legs as both fast bowlers bowled with lot of aggression in their miserly bowled short spells.
Younis took 13 deliveries to score his first run and was also hit on the left bicep when he tried to leave Johnson's short pitched delivery. Ali was fortunate to escape just before lunch when Chris Rodgers dropped a low two-handed catch at point which could have given Johnson his second wicket.
Pakistan struggled to 50-2 at lunch, but after the break Younis and Ali batted with authority and did not hesitate to use their feet against the spinners. Ali reached his 16th half century in test matches off 141 balls by sweeping Nathan Lyon for his sixth boundary of the innings while Younis marked their century stand when he hit the offspinner straight for two successive boundaries.
Younis completed his fifty off 136 balls by driving Lyon for a single to midoff before Johnson struck late in the session. Australia captain Michael Clarke used his fast bowlers in short spells and Johnson bowled at a good pace. He often beat the outside edge of both batsmen with some impressive reverse swing bowling after lunch before removing Ali.
Allrounder Mitchell Marsh and left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe made debuts for Australia, which could regain the No. 1 spot in the test rankings with a 2-0 series sweep.
Mitchell Marsh is the second son of former test opener Geoff Marsh to play test cricket for Australia. His older brother, Shaun, made his debut in 2011. Pakistan also awarded test caps to legspinner Yasir Shah and fast bowler Imran Khan. Both impressed in Pakistan A's warm-up victory against Australia last week.
