Australia need 9 wkts

Australia were nine wickets away from a series clean sweep and Pakistan an improbable 410 runs from victory with one day left in the third Test in Sydney on Friday.

Spinner Nathan Lyon grabbed the wicket of debutant opener Sharjeel Khan for 40, caught at mid-wicket, nearing stumps to have Pakistan at 55 for one.

At the close, Pakistan's leading series scorer Azhar Ali was not out 11 with nightwatchman Yasir Shah on three.

Skipper Steve Smith called a halt to Australia's second innings at 241 for two with 16 overs left on the fourth day and the tourists facing the herculean task of scoring 465 for victory.

Usman Khawaja was left unbeaten on 79 off 98 balls and Peter Handscomb was on 40 off 25 balls. Handscomb finished with a series average of 114.66.

David Warner smashed the second fastest 50 in Test history to give Australia a flying start in their chase for runs and a declaration.

The explosive Warner smashed leg-spinner Yasir for six, six, four, four in the fourth over of the innings, and then clouted Imran Khan for four consecutive boundaries in the seventh over.

His breathless half-century came off 23 balls with seven fours and three sixes and was the second fastest in Test history after Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq's 21 balls against Australia in Abu Dhabi in 2014.

But Warner perished when he missed in a lusty swing and was bowled by Wahab Riaz for 55 off 27 balls.

SCORES IN BRIEF

AUSTRALIA: First innings 538 for 8 decl.

PAKISTAN: First innings 315 (Azhar 71, Younis 175 not out, Misbah 18, Sarfraz 18; Hazlewood 4-55, Lyon 3-115)

AUSTRALIA: Second innings 241 for 2 decl (Warner 55, Khawaja 79 not out, Smith 59, Handscomb 40 not out)

PAKISTAN: Second innings 55 for 1 (Sarfraz 40)