Pakistan Route 187 by 7 (Shakeel 74*, Noman 6*) England 267 (Smith 89, Duckett 52, Sajid 6-128) in 80 runs
The leg-spinner, in his first appearance in the series, and first world title since Bharat’s Test tour in early 2024, trapped Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha leg-before in the box of nine deliveries. The nearest 20-year-old bagged Aamer Jamal with a googly that the all-rounder didn’t learn, cutting his stumps.
But Shakeel had to be dismissed on 26 when Bashir found a prominent lead through Jamie Smith, who failed to take a low catch. The ball ended up bouncing off the goalkeeper’s left shin, reflecting the problem of probability. Still, Smith should have been more cautious about the lack of bounce after his 119 deliveries in front of the stumps to complete 89 in the first year.
Pakistan had resumed at 73 for three, still behind 194, and it was clear that Shakeel and Masood intended to consolidate rather than do it in batches. He figured that once Masood had edged Bashir over Ollie Pope at second slip (a state similar enough to require a helmet), the best 26 runs were added in the first 40 minutes of play.
That is not to say that the promotion has been negative for the hosts. Having come together on the first night with 46 for three, a surge of 53 off 130 deliveries locked England closer than they had grafted to 267 from their first innings.
Masood looked the less settled of the two left-handers, and occasionally played leg with an angled bat, which ended in him being dismissed for a prominent edge. It was nothing but praise for Bashir, who edged out Jack Leach when the two Somerset spinners shared the bowling in the first over.
Naturally, Rizwan’s entry saw an increase in the run rate. His initial boundary, hitting Leach over the midwicket fence for six in the thirty-ninth over, was his first since the twenty-sixth. That was followed by an upset record of third out of four against Gus Atkinson in the fortieth.
Shakeel, the closest, accelerated to his sixth half-century against England, off 92 deliveries, with a couple of sweeps. But with the collective fifty for the fifth wicket emerging just before the 150th group, Rehan was the closest to the celebration.
Having established himself on the world stage with a five-wicket haul on debut in the third Test of the 2022 series against Pakistan, Rehan took some pains to emulate that performance. Rizwan came undone with a floater while trying to comb it. Agha was deceived by a homogeneous movement during the breeze, crushed on the outside edge with the umpire’s name falling in England’s favor both on impact with the drive-in and on the expected path to stump.
Agha’s dismissal for just 1 was met with enthusiasm by Ben Stokes and the rest of the England team, an apt response given the Negative. 7 began the series with an unbeaten 107 followed by two scores of 63 entering this shot. a look at. And the England captain was equally elated when the normally pugnacious Jamal went ahead and embraced the transformation, moving in and turning only in presence to watch the ball bounce off his stumps.
A push destroyed Noman Ali’s outfield in the final over before the crack was the first boundary Rehan had conceded from his nine overs so far. Despite the four wickets so far, parity remains a chance with Shakeel still in the fold.
Vithushan Ehantharajah is a working writer at ESPNcricinfo
