Agha Salman and Aamer Jamal’s half-centuries proved futile as Pakistan was dismissed for 220 in their second innings, resulting in a resounding victory for England by an innings and 47 runs. This match marked the first instance in Test cricket where a team, despite scoring over 500 runs in their first innings, lost by an innings.
On the penultimate day, Pakistan’s top order crumbled in the second essay after the visitors had taken a mammoth lead. Heading into the final day, they still trailed by 115 runs with only four wickets left. Pakistan has made an unprecedented mark in Test cricket history by becoming the first team to suffer an innings defeat despite scoring 500 runs in their initial innings. England secured their victory during the morning session of the fifth day at Multan.
Day 5 - A nightmare for Pakistan cricket team
Salman and Jamal successfully defended against the English bowlers for almost an hour in the morning session. Salman, who had previously scored a century in the first innings, continued his impressive form by achieving a half-century, reaching this milestone with a boundary in just the fifth over of the morning, deftly glancing a delivery down the leg side. With minimal movement available for the bowlers, England quickly resorted to a strategy of short-pitched deliveries. Jamal appeared to be troubled by a few of these bouncers, which narrowly evaded the fielder. One of the deliveries even struck him on the helmet.
The partnership between the two players extended to 109 runs, marking the first century stand by a seventh-wicket pair for Pakistan in the third innings. While it may not have fully restored hopes of salvaging the Test match, their efforts significantly narrowed the first-innings deficit and provided a glimmer of possibility for extending the contest into the fourth innings.
However, their resistance concluded an hour into the day’s play when Salman was dismissed by Jack Leach, who bowled a delivery that swiftly struck him low on the pads. Despite opting for a review, he was unable to overturn the decision.
Jamal, nonetheless, maintained his composure against the English attack and reached his half-century with a single to mid-on. He experienced a stroke of fortune shortly thereafter when Ollie Pope dropped a catch at square leg, followed by Pope failing to execute a direct hit while Jamal attempted a quick single. Shaheen Afridi then swung his bat for a brief period before misplaying a drive, resulting in a diving return catch for Leach.
Following that point, the proceedings became a mere formality. With Abrar Ahmad hospitalized and unable to participate in batting, Pakistan’s innings concluded with the dismissal of Naseem Shah, who attempted to play against Leach but was deceived by a flatter delivery, resulting in his stumping for a score of 6.
Although Leach claimed all three wickets that fell on the final day, the groundwork for the victory in Multan was established by Harry Brook and Joe Root. Their contributions enabled England to declare at a substantial 823 for 7 after spending over a day and a half on the field, in reply to Pakistan’s first innings score of 556. With their sixth successive loss, Pakistan stretched their winless streak at home to 11 matches.
Impeccable performance by England cricket team
A record-breaking batting display established the foundation, with Harry Brook’s remarkable triple-hundred and Joe Root’s impressive 262 enabling England to achieve the fourth-highest total in Test history. Although the pitch remained conducive to batting well into the fifth day, only occasionally offering support from the expanding cracks, Pakistan’s early collapse in response to a 267-run deficit rendered the result inevitable.
England’s captain, Ollie Pope, praised Joe Root and Harry Brook for their outstanding contributions during the team’s significant Test victory in Multan. Both players achieved personal best scores and formed a record-setting partnership of 454 runs, leading England to an impressive total of 823 for 7 in their first innings. The team maintained a scoring rate of 5.48 runs per over, which not only provided a substantial lead but also allowed the bowlers ample time to pursue a victory.
“I think the pace at which they batted is crucial for that and you kinda need that on these flat pitches as we saw last time around at Pakistan,” Pope told Sky Sports.
“They play such different games but they both score at a pretty good rate. Obviously, the way Brooky uses power and then Rooty has kinda got a cushion on his bat so he just sticks with twos. But I think going in last night, they [Pakistan] would have been knackered from chasing the ball around and the way they played was just phenomenal.”
England head coach Brendon McCullum had told Sky Sports earlier that Pakistan’s 556 was under-par on the flat and unresponsive Multan pitch. Pope, however, begged to differ and stated that he had faith in his batters to go out and dwarf that score.
“Whenever you get 550, whatever pitch it is, it is always a good score. But, we also knew if we bat with anything like we know we can, then we know that we can go, we can go really big. And obviously, we’ve got two greedy Yorkshiremen and they did exactly that. Obviously, the skills they showed and the fitness they showed as well. The fact that we knew we needed a massive score kept them driving, sort of driving towards those massive massive numbers and massive credit to them for putting us in a position to win that game.”
Pope however missed out on scoring any runs due to a stunning catch at mid-wicket by Aamer Jamal. He admitted that he might have felt envious earlier on during his career, but now revels seeing his teammates succeed. He said he was looking forward to the next two games to make some match-winning contributions.
“Yeah, absolutely. I think when I was a bit younger, early on in my professional career, that would have been a situation I would have not hated because we’re in a great position but in my mind I would have thought ‘ugh, why can’t that be me’ but I was fortunate enough to make some runs in the last game [Oval Test vs Sri Lanka] and I’ll look at the next two games to make some match-winning performance. But I loved every bit of watching the 2 Yorkshiremen bat, what they did was seriously special, it was a joy to watch and very pleased for them.”
As Olly Stone has now gone back for his wedding and will be unavailable for the next Test, Pope dismissed thoughts of bringing in a spare seamer but said that skipper Ben Stokes could make a return to the squad in the second Test beginning on October 15.
“We’ve got a few days off our feet now, we’ll keep it as relaxed as possible. I know there’s always that way of looking at things. But obviously, there’s been Matt Potts on the sidelines who’s been bowling lovely and he’s just waiting for his go.
“Ben Stokes is also looking to come back and play as well. I don’t know. I’m not 100% sure [if he’ll play the next Test]. He’s been training very well this week and he’s as keen as ever to get playing again. Fingers crossed for everyone, he’s all good.”
Scorecard: Pakistan 556 & 220 (Agha Salman 63, Aamer Jamal 55*; Jack leach 4-30) lost to England 823/7 decl. (Harry Brook 317, Joe Root 262; Naseem Shah 2-157) by an innings and 47 runs.
