England's chances of making a comeback in the second Test were already slim, but on a sultry Friday morning, England tossed their bats around and took wickets away (literally in one case), leaving Noman Ali and Sajid behind. Khan led Pakistan to their first Test win at home. 12 games, 3 and a half years.
With England's opener already out and 261 games still to be played, a successful run chase seemed unlikely at the start of the day, but it is now completely beyond the realm of possibility. It didn't take long. In the end, England fell short of even half their target, with Norman taking eight wickets in the second innings, including seven in a dizzying final morning, as the tourists were bowled out for 144. Pakistan won by 152 runs and avoided a dreaded series whitewash. The series-deciding match will then be played in Rawalpindi next week.
All of England held true to assistant coach Paul Collingwood's promise on Thursday night not to abandon the mantra of playing attacking shots and aiming for quick scores. The intended purpose of this tactic, to put pressure on the bowlers, was somewhat undermined by their regular loss of wickets.
Pakistan got their first breakthrough in just the eighth ball of the morning, with Sajid's spin turning Olly Pope's push from a decent defensive shot into a straight return catch, setting the tone for a chaotic period to come. . After safely getting through 26 pitches Thursday evening. Joe Root only fought eight more times before missing a sweep and being given lbw.
Like Root, Harry Brook also lost to Norman. Noman was finally getting rewarded for the quality of his bowling throughout the game after Sajid monopolized the wicket-taking in the first innings. Just as Root Brook considered his on-field LBW decision, sending fans into the busiest section of the ground, the Hanif Muhammad and Mushtaq Ahmed enclosures, from the shaded seats at the top to the flat concourse at the bottom. It cascaded down to allow them to change direction. Watch the DRS system work its magic and decide a batsman's fate on one big screen in the stadium. Brooke's 16-year-old was playing his first Test for Pakistan after a century and managed a modest domestic average of 101.25.
Jamie Smith scored just six points, but missed a long hit until midfield that was easily caught by Shan Massoud. Ben Stokes and Brydon Kearse then scored 37 runs for the seventh wicket, England's best partnership. After Kaas hit a pair of stunning sixes off Sajid to the ground, the captain came down the track towards Noman, missed the ball, and as he swung, Kaas slammed it to the ground. He released the bat on the follow-through. While sailing high to backward square leg, Stokes turned empty-handed to see Mohammad Rizwan remove the bail.
Karth added six more to his collection before becoming his next challenger. Wild Hoik only succeeded in letting Norman slide. Accustomed to more fleshy contact, he apparently didn't realize this, leading to the most puzzling review of the day. As a result, Norman still had six pitches left. Jack Leach padded the fifth ball, from which he sent a looping ball to short-leg Abdullah Shafiq, and the sixth ball was pushed by Shoaib Bashir to the same fielder.
Pakistan's victory was their reward for taking a big gamble by playing on a used pitch and fielding a team full of spinners, with their chances of success hanging almost entirely on winning the toss and enjoying the best batting conditions. I took the risk of being totally dependent on it. Great bowling conditions on the first day and after. It doesn't feel like a particularly repeatable approach that's likely to lead to consistent long-term success, but it feels like it's something you can plan for another time. It was the best they had as they fought to keep this series alive.
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England tried to cover all bases in their team selection, but may have regretted at different moments choosing two spinners rather than an extra seamer and two spinners rather than an extra spinner. . But in the end, every other coin toss moment had to fail because they lost the crucial toss. Especially on the field on the third day, when we twice dropped Salman Agha, who was still in single digits, and then watched him add over 50 crucial bonus runs, or when Ben Duckett beat Sajid Khan Like when he got a catch but lost momentum and had to drop the ball, when Saim Ayub took him over the boundary, or when Saim Ayub viciously top-edged him over the wicketkeeper's head and let him slip. Or when the ball looped off Aamer Jamal's pads and flew right beside a diving Zack Crawley, it didn't happen at all.
