AUS vs PAK | Twitter reacts as Rizwan combines slog sweep with the pull to stun Hazlewood with massive blow

Pakistan's hopes of clinching a first Test win Down Under in 28 years were quickly flushed down the drain within the first session of play in the Pink Test at Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday as the Men in Green collapsed to 47/4. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood both struck with their second delivery in the encounter while Pat Cummins sent Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel packing to bring Mohammad Rizwan to the crease. With the deck playing certain tricks on the batter and given the team's precarious situation, the veteran would conventionally have been expected to preserve himself through the lunch but Rizwan instead provided one of the defining moments of the day.

Hazlewood steamed in to begin the 20th over and delivered his trademark top-of-off stump delivery to compound the pressure on the visitors. Rizwan, however, shuffled across his stumps early, before bending his knees considerably and whipping the rising Kookaburra with a brutal swipe across the chest. The weird amalgamation of a slog sweep, traditionally reserved for spinners, along with an aggressive front-foot pull worked wonders for the batter as it flew over square leg and into the stands, provoking the fans in the section to cover their heads both in awe and concern.

The usually stoic Hazlewood could not help but shoot an ambiguous stare at his counterpart as if to acknowledge the brilliance of the shot and that was all the fodder Twitterati needed to heap praise on Rizwan's bold statement.

What a shot!

Just wow!

Trademark

Beautiful

Counter attack!

Signature shot!

Quick hands

Massive

Really?

Ridiculous