Sajid Khan and Noman Ali played their part in giving Pakistan a series win over England on Saturday, October 26. For the second successive match, the spinners justified their selection by grabbing all the 10 wickets as the innings of England was wrapped up for just 112 runs, thereby forcing the home side to chase only 36 runs.
This is the first Test series win for Pakistan against England since Nov 2015 and the first home series win for Pakistan since 2021 after the 4 Test series.
England’s Batting Collapse
The spin-duo, Noman and Sajid, opened and persisted pressure throughout the innings, as they did to England’s second innings at Multan. Harry Brook got off to a pretty good start with two fours off successive balls from Sajid, but couldn’t capitalize on his momentum when he edged a ball down the leg side to the keeper after a dropped catch ball earlier.
As England started gaining confidence with Brook and Joe Root at the crease, Noman struck again, bowling a very well-disguised delivery that trapped Ben Stokes plumb in front. This wicket left the English team bewildered.
Spin Domination From Pakistan
Jamie Smith tried to make it hurry but was soon outfoxed by Sajid, who sensibly changed the length and gave nothing to hit for Smith. It got no better from here when England leveled scores at having lost six wickets. Things couldn’t get any worse as Noman edged the outside edge of Joe Root and made England lose its best bat.
Noman’s incredible bowling came out in a six-wicket, with the first wicket being the dismissal of Jack Leach to stump. Pakistan successfully maintained its second consecutive test for the first time at least by taking all 20 wickets.
Pakistan Weathered Comfortable Chase
Pakistan’s chase was straightforward only requiring 36 runs for a win. Captain Shan Masood continued with a blistering assault to seal the game with an unbeaten 23 off just 6 deliveries. The win, which sealed the series for Pakistan, went down in style, emphasizing how well their spin attack worked against the struggling English batters.
Brief Scores: England 267 (Jamie Smith 89; Sajid Khan 6/128) & 112 (Joe Root 33; Sajid Khan 6/42) lost to Pakistan 344 (Saud Shakeel 134; Rehan Ahmed 4/66) & 37/1 (Shan Masood 23*) by 9 wickets.
