England sealed a historic series victory against Pakistan on their home soil after 22 years as they won the second Test by 26 runs in Multan on Day 4. Pakistan batters had almost chased down the target of 355 runs if not for some crucial decisions going against them. One of them probably proved to be the game-changer in the end as owing to an umpiring decision, their set batter Saud Shakeel had to walk back to the pavilion, just before lunch.
Mark Wood had his tails up having broken the dangerous partnership between Shakeel and Mohammad Nawaz having dismissed the latter. Wood bowled an inswinger to Shakeel when he was batting on 94 and the ball touched his gloves on the way. The ball wasn’t fully on the keeper’s diving length and hence England’s stand-in wicket-keeper Ollie Pope was caught in the middle but managed to grab it with both hands just above the ground.
However, the umpires wanted to check it again. The keeper’s reaction suggested that he wasn’t sure but the umpires gave the soft signal as out. The third umpire Joel Wilson saw several replays to judge it conclusively if it was out or not. However, it wasn’t, as the ball appeared to have touched the ground while Pope was taking the catch but from front-on angle it does appear like that. However, the umpire thought that Pope had fingers beneath the ball and gave it out.
The decision caused a huge uproar as the fans said that Pakistan were robbed as since it was inconclusive, it should have been in batter’s favour. While many said that it appeared that Pope had something under the ball
The decision was final nail in Pakistan’s coffin as they lost the next three wickets for 16 runs in the post-lunch session and conceded another home Test series, second in 2022 after defeat to Australia earlier this year.
