Pakistan thrash England to win Test series after Noman, Sajid heroics

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October 26, 2024
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Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: Spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan suppressed England’s batting attack inside three days to earn Pakistan a long-awaited series-clinching nine-wicket win in the third and final Test in Rawalpindi on Saturday. The 38-year-old left-arm spinner Noman and off-spinner Sajid, 31, had grabbed all 20 wickets on a recycled second Test pitch to level the series last week and yet again clipped the batters on an engineered dry surface by sharing 19 wickets as England were dismissed for 112 on day three. Skipper Shan Masood (23 not out), who lost six successive Test matches as captain before defeating England in the second Test, sealed the win with a six over long-off against Shoaib Bashir after smashing four successive boundaries to Jack Leach. The left-arm spinner grabbed the only wicket to fall when he successfully sent for an LBW television referral against Saim Ayub, who made eight. “It’s special,” Masood said. “The first win came after a long time and it was backed up by a series win … it’s about character. To be here and standing as the winning team, it’s the most special thing for us.”

England’s batting folded meekly against the spin duo for the second time around as Ali followed his three wickets in the first innings with 6-42 on a wicket which was dried out by industrial-sized giant fans and outdoor heaters. Khan grabbed 4-69 to add to his first innings six-wicket haul as England batters couldn’t negotiate the variable bounce and turn that Khan and Ali extracted. England won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs leading to Pakistan recalling both Noman and Sajid for the remaining two Test matches and reusing the same surface in Multan to counter England’s aggressive batting. Touring captain Ben Stokes, who missed out on England’s memorable win in the first Test while recovering from a torn hamstring but returned to lead the side in tougher conditions for his batters, described his team’s performance as “disappointing”. “We were thrown some challenges over these last two games and weren’t able to stand up to them,” he said. “Credit to Pakistan.”

Resuming on a precarious 24-3, Joe Root (33) and Harry Brook (26) cut down the deficit to 11 runs before England lost wickets in a cluster. Brook got a thick edge when he tried to cut Ali and the left-arm spinner trapped Stokes LBW off an arm ball to which the England captain shouldered arms. England were still trailing by two runs when Jamie Smith (3) charged down the wicket to Khan and had his off stump knocked over and England slipped to 6-75. Khan then ended Root’s grim resistance by finding the outside edge before England’s tail folded quickly against the spin duo. “The lads trained hard but when you get out in the middle it can be completely different,” Stokes conceded. The win was a sweet revenge for the home team, who lost 3-0 to England on their last tour of Pakistan two years ago under the captaincy of Stokes. The series win ends a difficult and controversial period for Pakistan and Masood, who was appointed Test captain last year but whose position was coming under increasing pressure. A 3-0 series defeat by Australia was followed by Bangladesh recording a historic 2-0 win in Pakistan before England racked up that record-breaking 823-7 declared to hand Masood another defeat. “We’d like to dedicate this (series win) to the people of Pakistan, who’ve been through a lot,” Masood said. “Hopefully this will put a smile on people’s face and hopefully we can have full houses.”

SCOREBOARD

ENGLAND 1ST INNINGS 267

PAKISTAN 1ST INNINGS 344

ENGLAND 2ND INNINGS 112

PAKISTAN 2ND INNINGS (target 36 runs)

Abdullah Shafique not out 5

Saim Ayub lbw b Leach 8

Shan Masood not out 23

Did not bat: Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Sajid Khan, Noman Ali, Zahid Mahmood

EXTRAS (NB 1) 1

TOTAL (3.1 overs) 37-1

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-14 (Saim Ayub, 2.1 ov) •