OTD | Nathan Lyon became only the third Australian to reach 500 wickets in his Test career in 2023

On this day in 2023, Nathan Lyon dismissed Faheem Ashraf at the Optus Stadium in Perth to become only the third Australian bowler to claim 500 or more Test wickets after Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. It helped Australia to claim a win over Pakistan in the first of the three Tests by a whopping 360 runs. It was one of the greatest moments of Nathan Lyon’s career.

There was a bit of nervousness during the dismissal as the umpire had initially declared the LBW to be not out. With just a second left, Pat Cummins decided to review. As it turned out, Australians were right and the decision had to be overturned. There were huge cheers from the fans in attendance. They realized it was a big moment and gave Lyon his flowers.

In the first innings, Warner shined with the bat with his 164(211). Apart from him, Mitchell Marsh scored a quick 90(107). Some useful 40s and 30s helped the home side to post 487 runs on the board. Aamer Jamal was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan who claimed 6/111 in his spell of 20.2 overs. In reply to Australia’s 487, Pakistan managed just 271 runs.

Lyon was the pick of the bowlers who claimed 3/66 in his spell of 24 overs. Mitchell Starc and Cummins shared a couple of wickets each with him. In the second innings, Australia posted 233/5 before declaring their innings. Usman Khawaja scored 90(190) while Marsh shined again with his quick 63*(68). Khurram Shahzad was Pakistan’s best bowler in the second innings with his 3/45 in 16 overs.

Australia gave the visiting side a daunting total of 450 runs to chase. No batter applied themselves in the middle. Starc and Hazlewood claimed wickets for fun from their end. After a few overs, Lyon was brought into the attack. The off-spinner dismissed Faheem to complete his 500th Test wicket. He also dismissed Jamal and took a total of 5 wickets in the match.

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