Australia appeared to have picked up where they left off in Melbourne as an early bowling onslaught left Pakistan reeling on the opening day of the third and final Test at the SCG.
However, a brilliant fightback from Aamer Jamal allowed the visitors to recover from a precarious position to post 313 on a drama-filled day in Sydney.
Aamer Jamal leads Pakistan resistance in New Year’s Test amidst Pat Cummins magic
After Pat Cummins’ heroics during the Boxing Day Test, the Aussie skipper once again proved unplayable (5-61) as he struck crucial blows at regular intervals to put the Aussies in the driving seat.
Yet despite their skipper's brilliance, the hosts were left disappointed after they lost their way late on to hand back the initiative to Pakistan.
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The Pakistanis got off to the worst possible start in the morning when Mitch Starc nabbed Abdullah Shafique with his second delivery of the match.
It appeared to set the precedent for another disappointing day out in the middle for the tourists as their top order were skittled to leave the side reeling at 5-96 at one stage.
Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman, who nearly combined so brilliantly in Melbourne during their run chase, provided much-needed resistance to ward off an embarrassing capitulation after their captain, Shan Masood, had elected to bat first at the toss.
That decision looked to be calamitous early on as Cummins and his fellow pace attack left Pakistan in all sorts of trouble.
Yet, as they have done throughout the series, Pakistan responded to the setbacks to put themselves back into the contest.
Rizwan was at front and centre as he smashed his way to 88 off 103 deliveries. But just as he seemed set to score his side’s first century of the series, Cummins re-introduced himself back into the attack and struck gold.
Salman followed him back to the pavilion shortly afterwards, after he scooped a poor shot to square leg after notching his half century, before Hasan Ali was dismissed for a duck by Cummins.
“That is his 12th five-wicket haul and his third in a row,” Ian Smith said on Fox Cricket after the paceman claimed Ali’s scalp.
“It’s the first time he’s claimed one here at the SCG – the stats just keep on coming for captain Pat. He’s a genius at the moment.”
“What a performer he is, the skipper,” Kerry O’Keeffe added as Cummins lapped up the applause of the crowd.
“This is a benign batting pitch and he’s got five wickets on day one. He grows with every outing, does Pat Cummins.”
A buzz started to generate around the SCG as the crowd eagerly anticipated Warner’s innings.
However, Jamal - who claimed his maiden Test half-century - and Mir Hamza had other ideas as the duo combined for an enterprising partnership to thoroughly frustrate the Aussies and allow the Pakistanis to recover.
Faced with the daunting task of one final over before stumps, Warner stroked a boundary off his first ball after receiving a rousing reception from the Sydney faithful, only to then narrowly survive a scare in the penultimate delivery of the day.