Multan [Pakistan], October 18 (ANI): Pakistan ended its 11-match winless streak in Test format on home soil with a thumping 152-run victory in Multan to level the series at 1-1 against England on Friday.
After years of agony, Pakistan tasted success in Test format on their home turf for the first time since February 2021. The gamble of playing with a spin-laden lineup paid off as Shan Masood’s six-match horror run losing streak as Pakistan’s Test captain came to an end.
In the second Test, spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan took all 20 wickets, which stamped Pakistan’s authority in Multan after suffering humiliation at the same venue in the opening Test.
Day 4 began with an equation of England needing 261 runs with eight wickets in hand. England were jolted early after Sajid Khan removed Ollie Pope in the second over of the day.
Just like on Day 3, England tried to implement all sorts of sweeps to negate the spin threat. But Pakistan spinners landed their deliveries in the full-length area to make England toil hard to pull off sweep shots.
The high-risk ploy of executing sweep shots certainly carried risks and rewards. After Joe Root tried to sweep his way away but got trapped in front of the stumps, Harry Brook and Ben Stokes tried to ignite hopes of victory.
With Brook moving forward with his frenetic approach, Noman went round the wicket to pin the youngster in front of the stumps, reducing England to 78/5.
Stokes top-scored with a knock of 37 for England by executing a flurry of all sorts of sweeps. However, it wasn’t enough for the visitors to seal the Test series before heading to Rawalpindi.
Stokes’s exploits came to an end after he came down the track to charge against Noman. The ball spun its way through the gap between the bat and pad, and Mohammed Rizwan didn’t make any mistake behind the stumps to collect the ball and dislodge the bails.
Noman cleared up England’s tail end to seal an emphatic 152-run victory over the visitors.
Earlier in the Test, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat. Debutant Kamran Ghulam scored a century, which propelled Pakistan to 366.
In reply, England could only post 291 on the back of Ben Duckett’s swashbuckling century. Pakistan kept composure and managed to put 221 on the board with valuable contributions from the tail end. With a total of 297 to chase down, England fell short on a spin-friendly surface. (ANI)
