Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head will be looking to build on their unbeaten 33-run partnership as play gets back underway at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday (10am AEDT).
Australia made a strong start to the second Test against Pakistan before the visitors’ left-arm seamers started causing problems, dismissing David Warner (38), Usman Khawaja (42) and Steve Smith (26).
Rain also interrupted play 37 minutes before the scheduled tea break, although the weather forecast for day two looks far more favourable.
The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting a shower or two, although one to two millimetres at most is what is being tipped for the early and late afternoon on Wednesday.
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Otherwise the forecast looks relatively clear, offering Labuschagne a better chance to get into a batting rhythm after playing on either side of Tuesday’s rain delay.
It was a patient knock from Labuschagne, who managed 44 off 120 balls while Head was not out on nine.
“(We are) okay. Another wicket less would have been great, but credit to the way Pakistan bowled. They bowled unbelievable channels,” said Warner.
“But I think going into tomorrow we’re in a pretty good position. Anything with a four in front of it would be great, but it is going to be a tough grind.”
“It was a good day as a bowling unit, a bit unlucky that we haven’t got more wickets,” added Pakistan paceman Hasan Ali, who removed Khawaja for 42 runs.
“I think we are a bit ahead of them and looking forward to tomorrow.”
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