Pakistan thrash England to win series after Noman, Sajid heroics
Rawalpindi, Pakistan, AFP: Pakistan sealed a memorable Test series win as they thrashed England by 9 wickets on Saturday after Noman Ali and Sajid Khan delivered a spin masterclass. Noman and Sajid knocked over all 10 England wickets to dismiss the visitors for 112 before Pakistan raced to victory in Rawalpindi before lunch on day three of the third Test.
Shan Masood hammered five boundaries in six balls, launching Shoaib Bashir over the ropes to complete a resounding victory, his first series triumph as captain. Noman finished with figures of 6-42 and Sajid 4-69 after England resumed the day on 24-3 but were dismissed in 37.2 overs for their lowest total in Pakistan.
Pakistan's Sajid Khan (R) and Noman Ali celebrate as they walk off the field - AFP
England won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs while Pakistan took the second by 152 runs, both in Multan. Pakistan lost opener Saim Ayub for eight but Masood’s six-ball 23 not out ended the match. The Pakistan captain had lost his previous two series in charge — 3-0 to Australia and 2-0 to Bangladesh — since being appointed last year.
Noman and Sajid were brought into the line-up after England destroyed the hosts in the first Test in Multan by an innings and 47 runs. The duo have knocked over 39 wickets between them in the subsequent two Tests, turning what looked like an easy England series victory Pakistan’s way.
Joe Root top-scored with 33 while none of the other England batters could last long enough to stop Pakistan’s charge towards a first home series win since beating South Africa in February 2021. England’s previous lowest total was 130 in Lahore in 1987.
England’s fate was sealed once Noman dismissed overnight batsman Harry Brook caught behind by Mohammad Rizwan for 26 and skipper Ben Stokes leg-before for three. Stokes once again fell in bizarre fashion as he offered no stroke to a Noman delivery, expecting it to go down the leg side but it struck him in front of the stumps.
| Scoreboard | |
| England 1st innings Zak Crawley c Ayub b Ali 29 Ben Duckett lbw b Ali 52 Ollie Pope lbw b Khan 03 Joe Root lbw b Khan 05 Harry Brook b Khan 05 Ben Stokes c Salman b Khan 12 Jamie Smith c Rizwan b Mohmood 89 Gus Atkinson c and b Ali 39 Rehan Ahmed b Khan 09 Jack Leach st Rizwan b Khan 16 Shoaib Bashir not out 01 Extras (b3, lb1, nb3) 07 Total (all out; 68.2 overs) 267 Fall of wickets: 1-56 (Crawley, 13.6ov), 2-70 (Pope, 18.5ov), 3-80 (Root, 20.6ov), 4-98 (Duckett, 25.5ov), 5-98 (Brook, 26.4ov), 6-118 (Stokes, 32.1ov), 7-223 (Atkinson, 59.4ov), 8-241 (Smith, 62.3ov), 9-258 (Ahmed, 66.2ov), 10-267 (Leach, 68.2ov) Bowling: Sajid Khan 29.2-4-128-6, Noman Ali 28-2-88-3, Zahid Mahmood 10-1-44-1, Salman Agha 1-0-3-0 Pakistan 1st innings Abdullah Shafique lbw b Bashir 14 Saim Ayub c Root b Leach 19 Shan Masood c Pope b Bashir 26 Kamran Ghulam b Atkinson 03 Saud Shakeel c Potts b Atkinson 134 Mohammad Rizwan lbw b Ahmed 25 Slman Agha lbw b Ahmed 01 Aamer Jamal b Ahmed 14 Noman Ali lbw b Bashir 45 Sajid Khan not out 48 Zahid Mahmood b Ahmed 00 Extras (b4, lb10, nb1) 15 Total (all out; 96.4 overs) 344 Fall of wickets: 1-35 (Shafique, 9.3ov), 2-43 (Ayub, 12.1ov), 3-46 (Ghulam, 13.4ov), 4-99 (Masood, 35.2ov), 5-151 (Rizwan, 49.3ov), 6-155 (Agha, 51.5ov), 7-177 (Jamal, 57.6ov), 8-265 (Ali, 83.1ov), 9-337 (Shakeel, 95.6ov), 10-344 (Mahmood, 96.4ov) Bowling: Jack Leach 31-2-105-1, Gus Atkinson 12-3-2-2, Shoaib Bashir 33-2-129-3, Joe Root 3-0-8-0, Rehan Ahmed 17.4-2-66-4 England 2nd innings Zak Crawley lbw b Ali 02 Ben Duckett lbw b Khan 12 Ollie Pope c Salman b Ali 01 Joe Root c Rizwan b Ali 33 Harry Brook c Rizwan b Ali 26 Ben Stokes lbw b Ali 03 Jamie Smith b Khan 03 Gus Atkinson b Khan 10 Rehan Ahmed b Khan 07 Jack Leach st Rizwan b Ali 10 Shoaib Bashir not out 04 Extras (lb1) 01 Total (all out; 37.2 overs) 112 Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Duckett, 4.2ov), 2-15 (Crawley, 5.1ov), 3-20 (Pope, 7.6ov), 4-66 (Brook, 19.4ov), 5-70 (Stokes, 21.2ov), 6-75 (Smith, 24.5ov), 7-85 (Root, 27.6ov), 8-97 (Atkinson, 32.1ov), 9-106 (Ahmed, 34.2ov), 10-112 (Leach, 37.2ov) Bowling: Saim Ayub 1-1-0-0, Noman Ali 18.2-2-42-6, Sajid Khan 18-2-69-4 Pakistan 2nd innings (Target 36 runs) Abdullah Shafique not out 05 Saim Ayub lbw b Leach 08 Shan Masood not out 23 Extras (nb1) 01 Total (1 wickets; 3.1 overs) 37 Fall of wicket: 1-14 (Ayub, 2.1ov) Did not bat: Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Sajid Khan, Noman Ali, Zahid Mahmood Bowling: Jack Leach 2-0-27-1, Shoaib Bashir 1.1-0-10-0 |