MULTAN – Thrilling bowling performance by spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan helped Pakistan crushed England by 152 runs in the second Test of the three match series at Multan Cricket Stadium on Friday.
The bowling duo also helped Pakistan square the series 1-1 as the first match was won by the visitors.
The victory has helped Pakistan broke its longstanding losing streak on home ground as Shan Masood-led side had clinched the first win in 12 matches.
It is only for the second time for Pakistan that all 20 wickets have been shared by two bowlers and the first such occurrence since 1972.
Furthermore, Noman Ali took 11 wickets, claiming maiden 10-wicket haul in Test cricket while Sajid Khan grabbed nine wickets in both innings.
Earlier Ollie Pope (21) and Joe Root (12) resumed the second inning for England at 36-2 in in pursuit of the 297-run target set by the hosts.
However, Noman blew up the batting lineup of England in back-to-back blows, helping his side to win the match by 152 runs.
On Day 3, Sajid Khan and Noman Ali snapped the England openers as the visitors required 261 more runs to win the match.
Ben Duckett (two-ball duck) and Zak Crawley (3, 8b), were the batters dismissed in the last hour of the day to leave England reeling at 11-2 before Joe Root (12 not out, 26b, 1×4) and Ollie Pope (21 not out, 30b, 2x4s) took their team to the close of play unscathed.
At the start of an eventful day on Thursday, Pakistan took the remaining four England wickets for just 52 runs, when they resumed from their overnight score of 239-6 in 53 overs.
Sajid finished with figures of 7-111 in 26.2 overs, his second Test five-wicket haul and the best bowling figures in an innings at the venue. He was backed up by Noman, who bagged three wickets for 101 runs in 28 overs.
After wrapping up England’s first innings in 67.2 overs for 291, Pakistan built on their first-innings lead of 75 to post 221 all out in 59.2 overs, setting England 297 runs to win the Test and the three-match series.
Salman Ali Agha, batting at N0.7, contributed with a valuable 63 off 89 balls hitting five fours and one six after having walked in to bat at 114-5. Salman and Sajid (22, 43b, 1×4) came together when Pakistan were struggling at 156-8 with 231 runs ahead, the duo put on a vital 65-run ninth-wicket stand to propel their team to a formidable lead nearing 300.
England struck at regular intervals to dent Pakistan’s progress in the second innings but useful middle-order contributions from Saud Shakeel (31, 51b, 2x4s), Kamran Ghulam (26, 39b, 5x4s) and Mohammad Rizwan (23, 43b, 2x4s) made sure to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Shoaib Bashir was the pick of England’s bowlers as he bagged 4-66 in 19 overs while Jack Leach picked up three wickets. Brydon Carse dismissed two batters while Matthew Potts accounted for one wicket.
