Tom Henigan
In the first of three test matches in Pakistan, England got off to a winning start as they defeated the hosts by an innings and 47 runs.
It wasn’t an ideal first innings for England. Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat to start off the series and made a strong start on a wicket that clearly favoured the batting team. By the end of day 1 Pakistan were 328-4, mainly thanks to centuries from captain Shan Masood and opening batsman Abdullah Shafique. The pair had taken their team to a total of 261-1 before Atkinson got his and England’s second wicket of the day with Shafique being caught by England captain Ollie Pope.
The late wicket from Woakes was a much needed one
Pakistan’s captain, Masood, fell not long after as he was caught and bowled by Jack Leach, who had a strong match for England. Chris Woakes then got England’s final wicket of the day as he dismissed Babar Azam via LBW despite the batsman’s review. The late wicket from Woakes was a much needed one as it was a frustrating day for England’s bowlers in difficult conditions.
England’s frustration continued early on in day 2 as Saud Shakeel and Naseem Shah built a solid partnership. Shah hit three sixes but was dismissed for just 33 off of 81 balls. That brought Shah and Shakeel’s partnership of over 60 runs to an end. After quickly dismissing Muhammad Rizwan for a duck, England looked as if they had also removed Salman Ali Agha thanks to a sensational Woakes catch as he threw the ball in the air to grab it again after leaping back over the boundary. After review, though, the ruling was not out.
Not only was a sensational catch denied but Salman remained in and punished England, racking up 104 off of 119 balls and finishing not out. The visitors were able to dismiss Shakeel as Shoaib Bashir picked up his first and last wicket of the innings with a lovely ball which ended up in Joe Root’s hands at slip. From there it was mainly Salman that picked up the runs for Pakistan, although Shaheen Shah Afridi’s 26 runs cannot be ignored given his role as the number ten batsman. Joe Root picked up the final wicket of the innings, dismissing Abrar Ahmed, although a Jamie Smith error at wicketkeeper and an Atkinson drop meant that Pakistan got a few more runs than they perhaps should have. The hosts finished on 556 all out as England got set to bat.
After Pope’s dismissal it was pure dominance from the visitors
England’s one and only innings in this match can only be described as sensational. Many will point to the wicket which of course favoured the batting team, but the total England racked up is impressive wherever you’re playing. However, their batting didn’t get off to a good start as captain Pope was dismissed for a duck thanks to a stunning one-handed catch from Aamer Jamal off of a Shah ball. But after Pope’s dismissal it was pure dominance from the visitors as Root made his way to the crease.
Opening batsman Zak Crawley formed a strong partnership with Root as they took the team to 96-1 to end day 2. When Crawley was eventually dismissed on day 3 for 78 runs, England were 113-2 with Ben Duckett next up. Duckett and Root formed another strong pairing with the highlight of it being Joe Root breaking Sir Alastair Cook’s record for the most runs scored by an Englishman in test cricket. Root’s lovely on drive was a great way to score the achievement. Duckett was eventually dismissed for 84 and another good double act came to an end but unfortunately for Pakistan, Root’s first two partnerships would be nothing in comparison to his one with Harry Brook.
Duckett was dismissed at 249-3, a solid score for England but it got even better as by the end of day 3 England were 492-3 with Brook on 141 and Root on 176. Eventually, in the second session of day 4, Root and Brooks sensational innings together came to an end, for Root anyway. The new England test run record holder was dismissed for 262, meaning his partnership with Brook had come to a close after they racked up an incredible 454 runs from 523 balls. The partnership between the two was England’s highest ever.
Brook’s total was the fifth highest in England history
Root’s dismissal didn’t stop Brook, though, as he powered on to finish on 317 off of 322 balls, becoming the first English player to hit a triple-century in 34 years as he clubbed a shot down the ground to hit the 300 mark. Brook’s total was the fifth highest in England history and he is only the sixth man to hit 300 for England. With a record-breaking innings, the visitors declared on 823-7, keen to get bowling straight away to get Pakistan all out in conditions where wickets were hard to come by.
A draw was now the worst-case scenario for England, but they needed a strong bowling performance to avoid that result as given their batting dominance in the first innings, anything but a win would be a disappointment. England needed a fast start, and they got exactly that as Woakes clean bowled Shafique on the first ball of the second innings with the off stump flying off of the ground. Not only was this a perfect start for England but a statement wicket given Shafique’s first innings century.
Pakistan initially didn’t seem to recover from Woakes’ sensational opening ball as they dropped to 82-6 when Shakeel was dismissed by Leach. But a solid partnership between Salman and Jamal formed, which meant they ended the day on 152-6. Although an England victory still seemed likely, the two batsmen continued to stand strong, frustrating Ollie Pope’s side. Salman was eventually found out by Leach via LBW and any small hope of Pakistan salvaging a draw seemed lost. As their second innings hit 55.4 overs, number 11 batsman, Shah, hit a six for Pakistan to go out swinging. On the next ball, though, he was stumped off of a Leach ball to give the spinner his fourth wicket of the innings and also hand England a big win.
England’s first innings score was the fourth highest in any test ever
It was one of the craziest test matches you will ever see. Pakistan’s first innings total of 556 is the joint third most runs scored in the first innings by a losing team. What tops that is the fact that England’s first innings score was the fourth highest in any test ever.
It was day 4 that won this test for England. Sensational batting followed by strong bowling set them up to win on the final day.
While England will be happy with their victory and the several records that they broke in doing so, this is a series that they need to win 3-0. Last month against Sri Lanka, they won the first two tests but were defeated in the final match at the Oval, meaning their chance at a perfect 6-0 summer was squandered. They need to ensure that they make no such mistake in Pakistan if they want to have any chance of making the World Test Final in 2025. While very unlikely, an appearance in the final is still possible for England providing they have a perfect winter and plenty of other results go their way.
Tom Henigan
Featured image courtesy of Alessandro Bogliari via Unsplash. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @englandcricket via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of @englandcricket via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
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