MULTAN: Magical spin spells from Nauman Ali and Sajid Khan propelled Pakistan to a convincing win against England on day 4 of the Multan Test.
Nauman took eight whereas Sajid bagged two wickets in the second innings to ensure Pakistan doesn't go winless at home this time. The continuity of dominance from the first innings helped the spin duo give a strong statement to the opposition out there.
Resuming day 4 with the loss of two wickets, England came up to launch their 'Bazball' formula as they do but Pakistani spinners had another plan. Sajid removed Ollie Pope (22) in just the second over of the day followed by Nauman getting rid of Joe Root, the prominent scorer of the first Test, for 18.
The two reliable batters departing in a short period already dented the hopes of the visitors. However, Harry Brook, the triple-centurion of the first Test, arrived at the crease to take charge. Nauman, the experienced Sanghar boy, got rid of Brook as he could only add 16 to the total.
Brook's wicket left all the responsibility on the shoulders of skipper Ben Stokes who returned from an injury. Stokes lost Jamie Smith in quick succession for Pakistan. Nevertheless, he resisted against the hosts with Brandon Carse, playing just his second Test, as they both stitched 37 runs together.
Stokes was looking in good touch until an ideal left-arm delivery from Nauman forced him to get out of his crease where he lost his balance and also the bat from his hand. Rizwan took no time to get him stumped and as a result, Pakistan got their seventh wicket.
Thereafter, Nauman didn't look back and took three more wickets to register his best bowling figures in an innings. Adding on to his three wickets in the first innings, Nauman bagged eight wickets for 46 runs in his 16.3 overs in the match-deciding innings. Sajid bagged two wickets to complete his nine-wicket haul in the Multan Test.
Previously, the Shan Masood-led side scored 366 runs in their first innings, in response to which the English team was bowled out for 291 runs, leaving them with a deficit of 75 runs.
While bowling first on day 1, Jack Leach dismissed four batters, Matthew Potts took two, Brydon Carse bagged three and Shoaib Bashir took one wicket.
Pakistan, on the other hand, witnessed two bowlers giving their best, with Sajid taking seven while Noman dismissing three in the first innings of England.
Masood XI managed to score 221 in the second innings with Salman Ali Agha scoring the highest 63 runs.
England’s Leach took three wickets, Bashir bagged four, Carse dismissed two while Potts took one wicket during the second innings of Pakistan.
Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (captain), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mehmood
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Matt Potts, Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir
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