Tall order for Pakistan after Simon Katich stirs Australia's resistance

This match drifted out of Pakistan's control today; to win it now they will need to score 440 in the fourth innings. By the close they had trimmed 114 from that, and for the loss of only a single batsman. Wickets had been cheap currency on the first two days, but the pitch has started to flatten out and when the clouds disappeared this afternoon any hint of swing went with them. Bowling became hard enough work to give hope to dreamers everywhere. Still, no team has ever made as many to win a Test batting last. And at this ground only once has a team reached a target of more than 300. Of the two captains, Ricky Ponting will surely sleep better tonight. His team's first task tomorrow will be to get through Salman Butt, who was 58 not out at stumps. Butt's average against Australia is touching fifty now. Against the rest of the world it drops to 27. He tucked into Doug Bollinger, but was far cagier against Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Johnson. If the weather is fair again the onus will fall on the debutant leg-spinner Steve Smith, and not all the Pakistan batsmen will be as unlucky as Imran Farhat. He slapped a fierce pull straight to Shane Watson at midwicket to gift the New South Wales player his first Test wicket. Pakistan's task could have been so much easier. At the start of play they trailed by 205 and needed to take another six wickets. But in those first two hours they managed to bag only one, and that was the nightwatchman Johnson. After lunch their fortunes flickered into life again as Simon Katich (83) and Marcus North (20) fell in the space of three deliveries. With Smith being diddled out lbw by Danish Kaneria for 12 soon after, three wickets had fallen for 20 runs. Australia had a lead of 313 at the time. Two quick wickets and the Test could have become a classic. No such luck for the neutrals. Australia's tail wagged and whatever Pakistan pluck had mustered in that brief burst evaporated as the sun came out for the first time in three days. Their struggles to contain Tim Paine were one thing, but the way in which the attack wilted against Hilfenhaus was quite another. The two Tasmanians shared 74 for the ninth wicket, the second-highest stand in the Test so far. In all his 112 innings as a professional – across Twenty20, 50‑over and first‑class cricket – Hilfenhaus had a top score of only 50. Today he made 56 not out. When Shahid Afridi finally removed Paine, who contrived to york himself, he hardly bothered to celebrate. Hilfenhaus then went on to add another 52 for the 10th wicket with Bollinger, whose 21 was also a Test best. Oh, the ignominy of it all for Afridi. He has had a poor three days in his first Test as Pakistan's captain. The backdrop to today's play was an ugly allegation that one of his team had cursed at the match referee Chris Broad on the first day. Broad had arrived at the Pakistan dressing room after play to have a quiet word with Mohammad Aamer about a mid-pitch collision with Ponting, and the story goes that Pakistan were understandably incensed that Broad had not spoken to Ponting as well. Broad himself denied that anyone swore, and the brouhaha blew over. Katich proved to be a far-less-fleeting part of the tale of the match. He batted through yesterday morning, bedding in as Johnson hit out at the other end. The loose drive that cost the opener his wicket just after lunch was all the more surprising given the patience he had displayed in getting to 83 from 174 balls, an innings which stretched over more than four hours. Still, he has scored 163 in the Test, more than Pakistan managed in their first innings. His has been the defining contribution. It will take a special innings from Butt to change that.