England won the final day-final against Pakistan in Rawalpindi’s first Test series. This was their third win in Pakistan.
England defended 343 runs in the final innings and restricted Pakistan to 268 runs with just 15 minutes remaining in the match. James Anderson and Ollie Robinson were the top picks of the bowlers, as the ball finally showed some tricks on a wicket which had been under scrutiny earlier in the match.
The Pakistani team was 257/5 going into day three. Azhar Ali and Agha Salman were in the middle. Then, there were four. Agha (30 off 64), was defeated by Ollie Robinson’s reverse swinging ball using the Decision Review System. This gave England victory. The drama continued.
Naseem Shah was bowled the first ball, but the bails didn’t fall. As Ollie Robinson was standing shell-shocked, Nasser Hussain stated on air: “Lower your back lift Naseem Shah.
Robinson would get his moment when Azhar Ali fell to his right arm quickly, flicking a reverse swinger straight at Joe Root at the leg slip.
England had the option of a new ball, but it wasn’t available because the old one was going backwards. It was a wise decision, and it paid off again.
Jimmy Anderson would strike again in quick succession, picking Haris Rauf and Zahid Mahmood within three deliveries. Anderson’s short strike on the rib cage saw Mahmood try to glance but it was effected down leg by Ollie Pope, who completed a diving grab. Rauf was lbw by the 40-year old on the first ball. Jack Leach finally rapped Naseem Khan around the pads with an in-drifter and beat the forward prod to trap him. England won the series 1-0 with the DRS.
After winning the toss, Ben Stokes elected to bat first. He and his team scored 657 runs in their first innings thanks to four centuries from Harry Brooks, Harry Brooks, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett. Pakistan responded with 579 runs. This was powered by hundreds of runs from Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq as well as Babar Azam.
After scoring quickfire runs of 264 runs in just 35.5 innings, the visitors extended their lead to 343 runs.
Next, the two teams will face off in Multan starting Friday, December 9th.
