Pakistan on Friday achieved an emphatic 152-run victory in the second Test against England at Multan Cricket Stadium, thus bringing the three-match series back on level terms.
Pakistan won the match on the fourth morning, inspired by another great spell of spin from its bowlers, with Noman Ali taking an impressive 8 wickets in the match. England was bowled out for 144, with Ali needing just eight runs on a spin assisted pitch that targeted 297.
There was no stopping Noman Ali. The left arm spinner single handedly accounted for eight of England’s wickets and finished with 8-46 in one of his best bowling displays ever. Sajid Khan too was superb and had already taken a hat trick in the first innings which made them a perfect pair to rip through England’s batting.
Noman and Sajid contrived a remarkable feat by sharing all twenty England wickets, what attacking spin bowling for both of them in turns! Together with Sajid Khan Noman, Noman and Sajid shared all 20 wickets of England in a remarkable display of spin bowling.
England started off the day at 36-2, and had a tough task lying ahead with a turning pitch. Pap with 22 was the vice captain, and during the course of the day, she was dismissed within the first over of the session when off spinner Sajid Khan took a woeful return catch.
That made Noman Ali’s day even better who went on to dominate the England batters in style. The turning point was Joe Root’s critical dismissal, trapped LBW by Noman for 18, this was the important wicket that England were unable to challenge with a review.
While Noman wreaked havoc, Harry Brook (16) also fell in a similar manner and England were left hovering at 88-6 when Jamie Smith was also out.
The England captain, Ben Stokes, whose game-changing innings are quite frequent, tried to launch a counter-assault, hitting 37 runs off 37 balls. But he was too aggressive for his own good, and paid the price. At one stage, Stokes came down the pitch to try and hit Noman but ended up losing the bat which went to mid-wicket.
Mohammad Rizwan, the wicket-keeper of Pakistan, eyed the ball comfortably and ran Stokes out by dislodging the bails with Stokes outside the crease. With this important wicket, the hopes of England batting side diminished even more as they could not cope with the spin of Pakistan bowlers.
Pakistan’s Test cricket team finally managed to win a Test series as they defeated Zimbabwe by 165 runs in the third test match. Shan Masood was positively influenced by the win and said, “The first one’s always special. And it has come after some hard times, some rough times.”
Masood appreciated both Noman and Sajid, who were participating for quite some time. “Noman and Sajid coming in for their first games — I say it is never easy. They were two seasoned campaigners coming in and doing their jobs in the second innings. We didn’t need a third bowler, so that just speaks volumes for them.”
The win marks the end of the long winless home streak for Pakistan and leads to an integration of confidence within the team. Their control and effectiveness on a pitch that suited their skills ensured that Pakistan’s spinners managed without the help of additional bowlers.
Ben Stokes appreciated the challenge of tackling spin under such circumstances. “When you get extreme conditions like that, you’ve got to find a way to negate that spin, which I think we managed to do in some good parts,” he said.
Looking at his performance and especially the performance of his teammates, he noted, “…we would have liked to have gone on, especially myself and a couple of other guys who got started, we might even be able perhaps to get closer, if not win the game.”
The series is level now at 1-1 and it would be interesting to see how the final Test pans out because one of the teams will walk away victorious having won 2-1. The game is scheduled to start in Rawalpindi on Thursday and both the teams will be looking to win the Test decider to clinch the series. For Pakistan, the latest win at Multan is a good reminder of their threats, especially their spinners when on song.