Nathan Lyon picks 4 wickets in 6 balls, becomes 4th most successful Aussie bowler

Nathan Lyon has become the fourth most successful Test bowler for Australia after taking four wickets in six balls during the opening session of the second Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.

Lyon ripped through Pakistan’s batting line-up as he removed Azhar Ali (15), Haris Sohail (0), Asad Shafiq (0) and Babar Azam (0) in quick succession. 

When He dismissed Pakistan batsman Babar Azam as his fourth wicket of a crippling pre-lunch spell, Lyon moved past Mitchell Johnson’s mark of 313 Test wickets to stand behind Shane Warne (708), Glenn McGrath (563) and Dennis Lillee (355) in Australia’s all-time list of Test wickets.

This is Lyon’s 80th Test after he made his debut in Sri Lanka in 2011.

Johnson, who retired from Test cricket in 2015, took to Instagram to congratulate Lyon on leapfrogging him in the list. 

“Congratulations to my “little bro” @nath.lyon421 on passing me on 313 test wickets for Australia. Bloody proud of your achievements so far and I have enjoyed your success. Well deserved and plenty more to come mate #lookout400 #wickets #baggygreen,” Johnson wrote on Instagram.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to my “little bro” @nath.lyon421 on passing me on 313 test wickets for Australia. Bloody proud of your achievements so far and I have enjoyed your success. Well deserved and plenty more to come mate #lookout400 #wickets #baggygreen

A post shared by Mitchell Johnson (@mitchjohnson398) on Oct 16, 2018 at 1:56am PDT

Earlier, Pakistan opted to bat first after winning the toss. While Australia retained the same squad, Pakistan made two changes by giving Test caps to Zaman and pacer Mir Hamza, in place of injured Imam-ul-Haq and out of form pacer Wahab Riaz.