Battered Pak face Mt 564

Ponting called his players in about half an hour before the close as soon as Martyn had scampered through for a single to finish on exactly 100 not out.

8220;I wanted to make some runs in Australia, I8217;ve made a lot of runs in the winter away and hadn8217;t made a hundred in Australia for a while so it was great to make one on home soil,8221; Martyn said.

Ponting and Langer had also seemed certain to reach their hundreds earlier in the day but both fell agonisingly short.

Langer, who made 191 in the first innings, was poised to become the first player to score twin hundreds in a Test at Perth when he fell for 97 while Ponting, who has yet to make a Test hundred this year, departed for 98.

Langer as racing towards triple figures when he drove Abdul Razzaq to the ropes for his 14th boundary to reach 97.

However, the paceman got his revenge next ball when he found the inside edge and Langer dragged the ball back onto his stumps.

Ponting, who turns 30 on Sunday, had struck 13 boundaries to get within two runs of his first hundred since taking over the Test captaincy from Steve Waugh.

He missed out when he failed to connect with an attempted sweep from spinner Danish Kaneria and was stumped by Kamran Akmal.

Langer and Ponting had put on 163 for the second wicket to stamp Australia8217;s authority on the match after Matthew Hayden was dismissed for 10 shortly after play began.

Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who was fined by the match referee for his antics after removing Hayden in the first innings, once again made the breakthrough for Pakistan but his celebration was more subdued.

Shoaib, who took 5-99 in the first innings, sent Hayden packing with a vicious inswinger that crashed into the off stump after the left-hander mistakenly let the ball go. Shoaib also gave Ponting and Langer a torrid time in the morning session but injured his left shoulder while fielding after lunch and did not bowl again. Martyn hardly played a false shot as he blasted his way to his fifth century this year in a little over two hours. He lost Darren Lehmann for five and Michael Clarke for 27 when he was on 99 but calmly reached his milestone off 121 balls.

Derailed?

Pakistan8217;s woes deepened today when Shoaib Akhtar was confined to the dressing room with a shoulder injury. As if this was not enough, captain Inzamam-Ul-Haq spent more than a session off the field complaining of a sore back and a viral stomach upset. The fast bowler was taken to hospital for scans on his left shoulder amid concern there may be a tear in the joint. If there is a tear, Akhtar8217;s tour could be in danger, a blow that would be disastrous for the team with so little depth in its bowling attack.

BRIEF SCORES

381 and 361/6 J Langer 97, R Ponting 98, D Martyn 100 n.o; D Kaneria 2/130 vs Pakistan: 179 and 18/1 S Butt batting 8, Y Khan batting 7; G McGrath 1/6.