Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne fell in the space of five minutes around midday as Pakistan reaped the rewards for their persistence on the third morning of the third NRMA Insurance Test in Sydney.

Smith (38) added 32 to his overnight score of six not out across two hours ofan extended first session, before cover driving Mir Hamza straight to Babar Azam, who was one of three short covers in position for such a chance. The batter looked ruefully down at the pitch upon his dismissal, evidently suggesting the ball had held up on what is proving an uneven surface.

Moments later Labuschagne (60) played forward to part-time off-spinner Salman Ali Agha, whose beautiful off-break gripped and spun through the right-hander’s defences before crashing into middle and leg stump.
It left Australia 4-199 at lunch with Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh both reaching six not out before the interval.

Earlier, with the Sydney Cricket Ground a sea of pink owing to Jane McGrath Day, Labuschagne kick-started the day with a delightful flick through midwicket for four from Mir Hazma.

Thereafter however, the middle-order duo struggled to entertain the masses as they survived a testing period in which Pakistan’s quicks sent down five straight maidens.

Smith broke the shackles with a ravishing cover drive and the scoreboard ticked over more regularly as the morning wore on, with the pair adding 79 for the third wicket.

An optimistic review from off-spinner Sajid Khan for lbw revealed an inside edge from Labuschagne, who also narrowly avoided midwicket with a lofted pull shot for four from Aamer Jamal.

Labuschagne moved to his 18th Test fifty and he and Smith looked well set, at which point Pakistan made their double blow to crack the match wide open.