The big two, in two
In his dreams before arriving in Australia, Mohammad Amir would have pictured a scenario something like this: swinging the new ball, he pins down David Warner with a series of back of length deliveries that test the opener's desire to get off to a typically rapid start. When Warner can stand it no longer and has to manufacture a shot, Amir bowls straighter and fuller, with enough away swing to beat the angled bat and zip off the bails. Next ball, Steven Smith walks out conscious of the movement he has just seen, and so follows a ball angled artfully across for an instant edge behind. Amir's dream came true at the Gabba, unfortunately too late for the Test series.
The chip shot
For the most part, Glenn Maxwell played with good sense in a difficult situation, eschewing many of his more extravagant brainwaves for strike rotation with the odd boundary. But like a magician taken with a new trick, he became increasingly enamoured with chip shots as his innings went on. A slightly crusty, used Gabba pitch allied itself to the stroke, but Maxwell landed several just short, or just beyond, Azhar Ali's field. When he skied a last attempted chip to offer up a simple catch on 60, Maxwell made his dismay clear. But not for the first time many at the Gabba could wonder at how necessary it all was.
The taxing two
For a long time it seemed Matthew Wade would be content with a strong rearguard to get the Australians up towards 250. But his late acceleration and the help of last man Billy Stanlake offered Wade the chance for a fine hundred. With two balls to go he needed three runs, and when he completely mis-hit Hasan Ali's penultimate delivery it seemed he'd finish the innings stranded on 98, because only a single seemed possible. But Wade hared down the wicket as the ball bobbled away behind square leg, and turned with only the thought of a sprinted second. Stanlake was a little slow to respond, but the committee of Pakistan fielders that assembled at the striker's end were unable to gather the return, and Wade was set up for a triumphant finish to the innings.
The juggle
Mitchell Marsh is no stranger to the odd dramatic catch - see his stumbling but successful effort to claim Virat Kohli at a critical point of the 2014 Adelaide Test against India. But the effort to claim Mohammad Rizwan was very much the kind to cause spectators to spill their beers. Running to his left, Marsh got to the high chance with enough time, but his momentum caused him to fumble and then lose his footing. Sticking out a hand in hope, Marsh was gratified to find the ball landing right in the middle; the Gabba crowd were briefly dumb, then expansively delirious.