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Australia’s Nathan Lyon scalped his 500th wicket during the opening Test against Pakistan on December 17, Sunday. Lyon dismissed Pakistan’s Faheem Ashram to join the elite club on the fourth day of the Test against Pakistan in Perth. Lyon, thus, became the eighth bowler and third Australian to join the exclusive club. Australia defeated Pakistan by 360 runs in the first of the three-match series. Batting first, the hosts had posted an overall total of 487 in 113.2 overs.
The visitors failed to give a decent score in return and got bundled out at just 271 runs. With this, the Kangaroos got a lead of 216 runs which got extended to 449 runs after the second innings. Chasing a big total of 450, the visitors got bundled out at just 89 runs on Day 4 of the Test. While Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood picked three wickets each, Lyon picked two wickets.
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Coming back to the bowler, the 36-year-old reached the milestone in his 123rd match. Lyon began the first Test in Perth with 496 wickets and was left stranded on 499 after Pakistan’s first inning. He reached the mark on Day 4 and dismissed Ashraf lbw on review before he removed Aamer Jamal as his 501st wicket.
Lyon spoke on how many more wickets he can pick, and said, “I’m not putting a number on it. I want to play cricket for as long as I can. I’m feeling really confident, really happy with where everything is at and it’s just about going out there and performing now.” Lyon joined the likes of Shane Warne (708) and Glenn McGrath (563) as Australian players in the 500 club.