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Lyon finally does it at the SCG
- Updated: January 5, 2017
Strange as it may seem, before this match the SCG was Nathan Lyon’s worst Test venue in Australia. He had fewer wickets at Bellerive and the WACA, but nowhere was his bowling average worse than at the SCG, where in five Tests he had 13 wickets at 54.15. Perhaps even more remarkably, his overall first-class record at the venue was even worse: 14 wickets at 64.85 from seven matches. So much for the spinner’s pitch.
So, Lyon could have been forgiven for approaching the Test with a certain amount of trepidation, especially at the end of a summer in which he has struggled for wickets, would have lost his spot for the Adelaide Test had Steve O’Keefe been fit, and appeared on the precipice again at the MCG before bowling Australia to victory on their last day of Test cricket for the year. As it happened, Lyon has started 2017 as he hopes to go on.
He finished the third day of the Test against Pakistan with 3 for 98, figures that, temporarily at least, were his best in a Sydney Test. He had Misbah-ul-Haq caught at deep midwicket, then added the wicket of Mohammad Amir, who was beaten by flight and drove a catch to mid-off. And finally, he produced the perfect wicket for an offspinner, gaining sharp bite off the pitch to turn the ball …
