Australia resumed its second innings 2/84 with a lead of 300 runs, but Smith was gone early when trapped on the pads stumbling across his stumps.

A David Warner duck and concern around a Marnus Labuschagne injury were the only real issues for the home side on Day 3 with Usman Khawaja (34no) unbeaten at stumps.

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With two days still to play, Australia can already smell a 15th consecutive Test victory against Pakistan.

A heat wave is expected to play a factor on Day 4 with the mercury expected to hit 31C.

2.10pm – Head falls, pitch playing tricks

Travis Head looked like he wanted to open up the scoring on day four but never quite got into a rhythm. The in-form No. 5 looked scratchy as he attempted a lofted cover drive off Aamer Jamal that went directly to Imam-ul-Haq.

He fell for 14 off 19 deliveries as Mitchell Marsh joined Usman Khawaja at the crease.

The drama with the pitch continued a few balls later when Marsh looked to have popped up a catch from a shorter ball hitting his hand. A review showed he hadn’t gloved it and he survived.

But then Khawaja had to deal with the pitch’s latest trick as a full ball kept low and looked to have him plumb LBW on 40. DRS showed the Aussie opener clipped the ball with his bat and was granted another life.

Scoring is looking increasingly hard on this Perth deck and Pakistan will have a mountain to climb later today when they kick off their second inning.s

1.45pm – Steve Smith fumes over DRS

Steve Smith stormed off shaking his head after a cruel DRS verdict.

The Aussie vice-captain was dismissed for 45 when Pakistan quick Khurram Shahzad got his scalp for the second time this Test.

After being trapped on the pads as he stumbled across his stumps, Smith was given out by the on-field umpire. The finger had barely gone up before Smith immediately signalled to challenge the decision.

The DRS ball tracking technology showed the ball was going on to clip the very top of a bail.

With jus a coat of varnish separating Smith from being given not out, he looked murderous when walking off the ground.

1pm – Pitch movement ‘on Richter scale’

The Optus Stadium pitch is unravelling in Perth with the deteriorating conditions set to provide a major twist to the battle out in the middle.

After Australia and Pakistan scored freely on the opening two days of play the deck began to produce uneven bounce late on Day 3 — and it appears it is going to be a nightmare for batsmen on Day 4.

Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne both took heavy blows to the body when misjudging shorter deliveries that showed unpredictable bounce.

Labuschagne took a blow to his hand and needed treatment in the dressing room with concerns he had suffered a broken finger.

Cricket Australia told reporters on Sunday Labuschagne is expected to be fit for the Second Test on Boxing Day.

Aussie test great Kerry O’Keeffe told Fox Cricket the pitch is going to shake around with wide cracks opening up.

“I’ve just gone out and looked at the pitch. It would register three on the Richter scale,” he said.

“Tony Greig’s keys would be lost forever so batting’s not going to get any easier on this deck.”

Aussie Test legend Matthew Hayden said on Channel 7 the cracks were running across the pitch, rather than in a straight line from one set of stumps to the other.

11am – Mitchell Johnson has another dig

Mitchell Johnson is standing his ground after three days of scorn surrounding his newspaper attack on David Warner.

Johnson was widely mocked throughout the opening three days after Warner’s swashbuckling first innings knock of 164 — having declared last week Warner’s recent form was not good enough for Test selection.

However, he’s come out again and suggested selectors still should have picked Warner’s eventual successor for the Pakistan series.

“On day one of the first Test against Pakistan Warner rode his luck early on — and it could have gone either way — and you take that and he went on to make 164,” Johnson wrote for the West Australian.

“He did what he was paid to do in the first innings before Saturday’s duck in the second innings.

“Warner may have denied he cares about criticism of his form, but it definitely does drive him as shown in his performance in the first innings.

“That sort of atmosphere is something Warner revels in.”

He went on to write: “I think my opinion in this column a couple of weeks ago is still valid.

“He hadn’t scored runs in about three years apart from the double century last summer.

“Another point made was that a soft summer like this, with Australia expected to comfortably beat Pakistan and the West Indies, was the perfect time to look at blooding some new players into an ageing team.

“They could have given some new guys some really good time out in the middle this summer and backed them in. That’s going to be much harder across the next two summers when India and England visit for five-Test series.”

Originally published as Australia vs Pakistan live: Steve Smith fumes over DRS verdict