| First Test, Rawalpindi (day 5 of 5) |
| England 657 (Brook 153, Crawley 122, Pope 108, Duckett 107) & 264-7 dec (Brook 87) |
| Pakistan 579 (Babar 136, Imam 121, Shafique 114, Jacks 6-161) & 268 (Anderson 4-36, Robinson 4-50) |
| England gained by 74 runs |
| Scorecard |
England pulled off one in every of their best victories with a 74-run win over Pakistan within the first Test in Rawalpindi.
With the solar dropping on the finish of a tension-filled closing day, England took the ultimate wicket with solely minutes of sunshine remaining.
In scenes paying homage to England’s well-known victory at nighttime in Karachi in 2000, Jack Leach trapped Naseem Shah lbw to go away Pakistan 268 all out, 75 wanting their goal of 343.
That England have been able to win was thanks to James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who gave a masterful exhibition of reverse-swing bowling to declare 4 wickets every.
Pakistan have been defiant all through. Saud Shakeel made 76, Mohammad Rizwan 46 and Azhar Ali 40. At 176-3 and 259-5, the house facet have been proper within the hunt.
But after Robinson eliminated Salman Agha and Azhar, England might solely be defeated by the fading mild.
With the stadium practically full and the group engrossed, Anderson snared Zahid Mahmood and Haris Rauf in the identical over.
Naseem and Mohammad Ali survived for 9 overs, earlier than Leach despatched England into wild celebrations.
There is simply a three-day hole to the second Test in Multan on Friday, when England can have the possibility to safe the collection.
Brilliant England safe win for the ages
This is an England win that might be remembered for a very long time, a becoming approach to mark their first Test in Pakistan for 17 years.
The drama of victory being secured late on the fifth day was completely in step with the extraordinary motion of the earlier 4 days.
England plundered 921 runs in 136.5 overs at a scoring price of 6.73, the quickest of any crew batting twice in Test historical past.
Ben Stokes’ daring declaration engineered a contest that had all 4 outcomes potential going into the ultimate hour of the match.
With darkness creeping in, England seemed to have missed their probability when Naseem’s edge off Stokes sailed between wicketkeeper Ollie Pope and first slip Joe Root, just for Leach to present the decisive intervention.
It ended a run of 11 away Tests with out victory and secured a primary win over Pakistan exterior the UK for 22 years with a whole XI that had by no means performed a Test right here earlier than.
All this after the England squad was badly affected on the eve of the match by a virus that raised the prospect of the Test being delayed by a day.
They had a stand-in wicketkeeper in Pope and an assault relying closely on three part-time spinners, from which Liam Livingstone didn’t bowl due to a knee harm and will return home.
Above all, that is the best win of England’s new period below Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, giving full vindication to their ultra-aggressive fashion of play that’s turning Test conference on its head.
More to observe.
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