Aamer Jamal sparkles in Australia with a record six-wicket haul

Dec. 15 (ICC) - Aamer Jamal’s 6/111 were the third-best bowling figures in an innings for a Pakistan pacer on debut.

Along with Khurram Shahzad, Jamal was one of the two debutants for Pakistan in their opening Test at Perth. Coming up first change to Shaheen Afridi and Shahzad, Jamal bowled a disciplined yet uneventful first spell. 

In his second spell, the bowler was taken for runs at the back of some attacking stroke play from David Warner and Steve Smith. However, he struck in his third spell to remove Travis Head and Warner. Jamal bowled to his field, even as Shan Masood’s placements worked well for Pakistan.

On the second day of play, though, the fast bowler showed his real magic. Jamal bowled an absolute corker to bowl Alex Carey (34) before the batter could take off. Despite being taken for runs, Jamal stuck to his lines and soon rattled Mitchell Starc’s stumps with a beauty. He added two more wickets to his kitty to finish with a six-for.

With this, he finished with 6/111. These are the third-best figures in an innings for a Pakistan bowler on Test debut. Pace ace Mohammad Zahid tops the list with his 7/66 against New Zealand in Rawalpindi in 1996, while Arif Butt comes second for his 6/89 at the MCG in 1964.

Overall, these are the sixth-best figures in an innings for a Pakistan bowler on Test debut.

His figures ensured that Australia were restricted to 487 after a blistering start. Pakistan openers were off to a solid start in response.