Melbourne, Australia

Australia skipper Pat Cummins took a 10-wicket haul at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as his team beat visiting Pakistan by 79 runs in the second Test. With the win, Australia also took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Chasing 317, Pakistan seemed in control for a bit with 129/3 at tea on day 4 but eventually got all out for 237.

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Pakistan's middle order kept them in the game but none of them could stitch together a bigger partnership which could taken them over the line. For visitors, Babar Azam scored 41 before being bowled by Josh Hazlewood and Saud Shakeel was then taken out by Mitchell Starc to leave Pak five down for 162.

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Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman then added 57 runs for the sixth wicket and brought the required runs under 100. It was Cummins once who broke the partnership by dismissing Rizwan for 35. Pakistan's lower order then couldn't offer much resistance as Cummins and Starc walked all over them and took the next four wickets in the next 7.2 overs.

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For Pakistan, skipper Shan Masood top scored with 60 while Agha Salman scored a valiant 50. From Australia, Mitchell Starc took 4/55 apart from Cummins' 5/49 - his second five-wicket haul in the match. This was also Cummins' second 10-wicket haul in his 57 matches to go with 11 five-fors. He also reached 250 Test wickets with the third wicket in the second innings and has 252 in total. 

Earlier, Australia continued the day from their overnight score of 187/6. Alex Carey, who was unbeaten on day 3, scored 53 as Australia managed 262 runs in their second innings. For Pakistan, both Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mir Hamza took four wickets each while Aamer Jamal chipped in with 2/74.

The final match of the series will be played from January 3, 2024, in Sydney.