Eng v Pak 1st Test Review: Pakistan register historic win as England crumble in the second inning

A spirited Pakistan team registered a historic win at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in England to start their English campaign of 2016 with an exciting win. The skipper inspired them in the first inning with a gritty hundred and then it was their bowlers who proved too good for the England batsmen. Yasir Shah was exceptional picking a 5-wicket haul on the second day wicket at the Lord’s. He bowled superbly in the second inning as well to finish with a match haul of 10/141. It was Shah who stumbled England after there was some middle order resistance. In the end, lack of partnerships for the Brits cost them the game. After all the hype Mohammad Amir and Pakistan made a remarkable comeback at Lord’s winning the game by 75 runs.

The team paid their respect to the Army that had trained them ahead of the tour. Led by Younis Khan the team stood in attention, on command went down to complete ten pushups, they were back on their feet, a salute and off they went hugging each other as the crowd both Pakistan fans and the home team supporters applauded their effort.

Pakistan started Day 4 with 214 runs on the board. Yasir Shah was unbeaten on 30 and had Mohammad Amir who was yet to open his account at the other end. The visitors would have loved to add at least 20 runs to their overnight score which would have pushed the lead beyond 300 but all they managed was one run before Stuart Broad scalped both the remaining wickets to restrict the overall lead to 283.

The England batsmen started off on a positive note scoring runs in a thick, the fact that Pakistan opening bowlers didn’t find their line to start with helped their cause. Both Rahat Ali and Mohammad Amir were struggling to pitch the ball where they intended to. But Ali soon got his act together and was instantly rewarded with the wicket of English skipper Alastair Cook who could score just 8. Joe Root and Alex Hales the next pair scored a few boundaries but Rahat struck again getting rid of Hales in the 8th over for 16. Root was his third scalp; he attempted the pull but just managed to find Yasir Shah in the deep.

Also Watch: Pakistan Cricket team pays tribute to its army

James Vince who is young in his Test career and is eager to seal a spot for himself had come back man Gary Ballance, the one desperate to leave a mark and prove his selection right for company. The two played counter attacking cricket and built a partnership that not just forced Pakistan to rethink their plan but also gave England the hopes of a victory. With the score closing onto hundred runs and seven wickets in hand one expected the home team to win the game.

But by that time the ball had started to reverse and Wahab Riaz was asking all sorts of questions. The probing line had Vince fall off after scoring 42 off 49 balls. Veteran Younis Khan held onto a juggling catch at second slip after having dropped the same batsman on the score of 9. Ballance was still there lending it to his team. Wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow withstood the attack from the Pakistan pacers and Yasir Shah.

The leggie soon found a bright spot exploring the footmarks created by left-arm pacer Rahat Ali who was warned by the umpire for moving in the restricted area. Yasir was turning the ball and soon had Ballance with a delivery that reminded most of the Shane Warne dismissal of Andre Strauss. The ball pitched well outside the off stump, the batsman reached for it but was beaten by the turn and the ball went onto crash the leg-stump. England would have expected Moeen Ali to show a mature approach but he went for the expansive shot coming down the wicket, but the ball spun and made its way from between his bat and pads onto the stumps.

More than half of the English side was back in the hut and most of Pakistan bowlers had tasted blood. Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes displayed great determination and batted for another 30 overs but wasn’t enough to frustrate the bowlers. Bairstow after batting so well for 146 balls missed an absolute half tracker from Yasir and was bowled. He couldn’t believe it; the entire Pakistan team was excited now they could sense the match was well within closing range before the end of the day. Mohammad Amir ran through the defense of Stuart Broad bringing the ball into the left-hander who was expecting the bouncer since the field was decorated for it.

Also Watch: Yasir Shah’s massive leg break clean bowls thoughtless Gary Ballance

Shah then had Woakes caught in the first slip by Younis Khan and it was just about time. Amir then cleaned up the last man Jake Ball to pick his second wicket and off went the Pakistan team hugging each other and rejoicing this vehement, emotional and resurgent victory. This will definitely heal a lot of burns from the past. The last time they walked out of the Lord’s they were defeated and were disgraced but after 6 years, they have restored the pride and emerged as a unit that is closely knit together and is fighting lot more than just a cricketing contest.

Yasir Shah was awarded the man of the match for his splendid effort. He completed a 10-wicket haul in the game and became the first leg-spinner to do so. Chris Woakes had an equally good game but his efforts couldn’t grab England a victory. He picked a five-wicket haul in both the innings and returned with match figures of 11/102 along with scoring a total 58 runs in both the innings.

Brief Scores:

Pakistan 1^st innings – 339/10 (Misbah-ul-Haq 114; Chris Woakes 6/70)

England 1^st innings – 272/10 (A Cook 81; Y Shah 6/72)

Pakistan – 215 (A Shafiq 49; 5/32)

England – 207/10 (J Bairstow 48; Y Shah 4/69)