Pakistan 366 (Ghulam 118, Ayub 77, Leach 4-114) and 221 (Salman 63, Bashir 4-66) won England 291 (Duckett 114, Sajid 7-111) and 144 (Noman 8-46) off 152 runs
Their fortunes were all the more impressive given the changes made based on last generation’s crushing loss of innings, with Babar Azam, Shahen Afridi and Naseem Shah dropped and Pakistan settling on a three-man spin attack that had never worked in combination for in front of. Finally, Zahid Mahmood was the only one who had to bowl six overs as Sajid and Noman, playing their first Test since July 2023, collectively dismantled England.
This was the fourth month of the second test, but the ninth month of action for the Multan sound, with three days in between for a quick spray, and now offering a constant change. England’s not out batsmen, Ollie Pope and Joe Root, were working on their sweeps before the start of the games and it was briefly revealed what the plan of attack was for their attempts to score an additional 261 for victory. “Basically, get out the broom,” as Ben Stokes said afterwards.
Pope, on the other hand, played no shot in anger before becoming the first wicket to fall, pushing Sajid’s second ball symmetrically into the bowler’s arms. Harry Brook tried to edge his first ball, Root did the same and the battle lines were tense.
Now, it’s not that that clarity of goal did much good for England. Root and Brook had put together a record 454 for the fourth wicket in the first Test of this sound, but the change in control and composure was marked. Root faced eight balls, attempting to brush seven of them before suffering a hip accident while stretching over the stump and playing over the ball to take lbw, an option that was shown as the umpire’s name in the assessment.
Brook was given one further away from the boundary, but his frantic strategy was no longer set to last and he returned to his twenty-first supply, the ball staying slightly low as Noman bowled from around the wicket, to be pinned in front. of the leg stump swinging around the form. England were 78 for five, the best form again in the dressing room and the game so well executed.
They were soon 88 for six, when Jamie Smith overcame a slow sweep to mid off from three balls and then dismissed Noman for four with the same shot. Stokes lightly bowled a straight shot and had the most luck, making 37 quicker than a run a ball before being caught badly by Noman. His movement around the form saw the bat finally end up somewhere similar to mid-wicket as Mohammad Rizwan finished the blow, a fitting metaphor for England breaking away from their embrace.
It was so nice that, apart from a temporary exit from Brydon Carse, who survived when Sajid was handed lbw through DRS and thus smashed the offspinner for three big sixes before Noman’s guile provoked another blow . and a thin edge to slide on. In their subsequent final, Noman removed Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir with consecutive deliveries and Pakistan’s makeshift Multan master plan had paid off.
Alan Gardner is an associate essayist at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick
