Hometown hero Mitch Marsh has fallen agonisingly short of a rousing Test century, bowled with the first ball after the lunch break in Perth.
The fans were behind the man nicknamed Bison from the moment he walked to the crease, chanting his name and applauding as he made his way to the middle.
But the air was sucked from the ground despite a brilliant display of attacking flamboyance; the 32-year-old bowled middle stump for 90 by Khurram Shahzad.
The West Aussie sat on 15 not out overnight, having been called into the action late on day one after opener David Warner departed for an outstanding 164.
He looked suspect early as he fought his aggressive instincts to get Australia through to the close play, surviving the day’s final ball by a whisker as it jagged away from his outside edge.
But Marsh was an unstoppable force in the first session on day two, walking at Pakistan and daring their bowlers to dig the ball in.
They obliged, Faheem Ashraf, in particular, feeling the brunt in a hapless two-over spell that went for 28 and saw the hosts past 400.
Marsh’s power on the pull was matched by the class of his drives, and he showed the typical backfoot technique for a cricketer raised in the west.
The introduction of the spinner didn’t slow the rate, Marsh hitting his first ball to the rope with help from an Ashraf misfield.
It didn’t all go to plan for the 32-year-old, stuck on 90 as Lunch was called.
And the plan fell apart after the break.
Marsh walked down the wicket to Shahzad for the first ball after the break, looking for another booming shot down the ground.
But the break was his undoing as he overplayed his hand, missing one that angled into the stumps to the disbelief of the adoring fans.