Pakistan beat England by 152 runs in the second Test in Multan, to record their first home win in over three years.
After securing a crushing innings victory on the back of a record-breaking 823-7 in the first Test, England were high on confidence coming into the second match at the same venue in Multan.
Pakistan beat England by 152 runs in Multan
Pakistan responded to that loss by leaving out Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah, and opting to re-use the same wicket from the first Test. They went in with a bowling attack consisting of just one specialist pacer in Aamer Jamal, in the hope that the pitch would assist spin early on.
The hosts won the toss and elected to bat first. After losing Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood early on, Saim Ayub and debutant Kamran Ghulam then led a recovery, putting on 149 for the third wicket. Ghulam eventually went past the three-figure mark, scoring 118 in his first Test innings to help Pakistan to 366.
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England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley gave their side a positive start when they came out to bat, putting on 73 in just 12.1 overs. The visitors were in a strong position at 211-2 on day two, but slid sharply to 239-6 by the end of the day. They were bowled out for 291 on day three, as Sajid Khan took 7-111 to hand Pakistan a 75-run lead.
On a steadily wearing pitch, Pakistan then managed to respond with 221 after being reduced to 77-4, thanks to Salman Ali Agha's knock of 63 from No.7. By the end of day three they had also managed to reduce England to 36-2.
On day four, they completed a 152-run win as it was the turn of left-arm spinner Noman Ali to step up, taking 8-46 to record the second-best innings figures ever in Pakistan. He and Sajid bowled unchanged for 33.3 overs in the fourth innings.
Pakistan secure first home Test win in 1,348 runs
The result means Pakistan have now won a home Test match after 11 winless games, their joint-worst streak ever. Their last home win came in February 2021 against South Africa, meaning this is their first win on home turf for 1,348 days.
Noman Ali took 3-101 & 8-46, and Sajid Khan 7-111 & 2-93, making it the first time in 52 years that two bowlers had shared all 20 of their team's wickets in a men's Test match.
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The 201 deliveries bowled by Sajid and Noman in the fourth innings was the second-most ever bowled in the fourth innings by two unchanged bowlers. In January 1883, Fred Morley and Dick Barlow bowled 278 deliveries (69.2 four-ball overs) for England against Australia in Sydney for a 69-run win, which remains the highest.
Result: Pakistan 366 (Kamran Ghulam 118, Jack Leach 4-114) & 221 (Salman Ali Agha 63, Shoaib Bashir 4-66) BEAT England 291 (Ben Duckett 114, Sajid Khan 7-111) & 144 (Ben Stokes 37, Noman Ali 8-46) by 152 runs.
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