One of the most appreciated features of Test Cricket is that it gives you a second chance to redeem yourself. England were bundled out for 219 in first innings, conceding a lead of 107 runs. But they fought back in second innings and restricted Pakistan to 169, thereby getting a target of 277, quite difficult but not impossible. At 117/5, England were in troubled waters and it was Pakistan’s match to lose from there on. A new pair- a batsman-wicketkeeper and a bowling all-rounder- was in the middle and all established batsmen back in the hut. Nearly all hopes were lost for England and many believed the game was over. The men in the middle, though, didn’t share that belief, and that’s what mattered. Buttler and Woakes came out with a positive frame of mind and kept rotating the strike with intermittent boundaries. Runs didn’t come easy, Pakistan bowlers had their tail-up and it was a fourth day pitch with footmarks and some uneven bounce, but the duo was quite determined and steadily kept the scoreboard ticking. Both got to their individual milestones of half century and built a partnership of 139 which proved to be just enough for England to get past the line.
Rain-affected Day 1
Azhar Ali, Pakistan captain, won the toss and elected to bat first. His openers saw-off the initial burst of Anderson and Broad. Archer provided the first breakthrough when he set Abid Ali up with short balls only to be cleaned up by a fast full delivery. Azhar Ali fell for a duck, caught leg before by Woakes. Next to come was Babar Azam, the highest ranked batsman in either team. He impressed one and all by his attractive stroke play and in partnership(96) with patient Masood took Pakistan safely to the end of day’s play shortened by bad weather.
Masood’s century takes Pak to 326
Day 2 didn’t begin well for Pak as Babar was dismissed without adding anything to his overnight score of 69. Anderson’s delivery took his bat’s edge, in an attempt to drive, to Root at first slip. Shafiq and Rizwan too were dismissed in quick succession, caught by second slip and wicket keeper off Broad and Woakes respectively. Masood on the other end was holding the fort for his team and took full advantage of two reprieves from Buttler. He built another important partnership of 105 with Shadab(45) and steadily brought up his 100. Broad got him leg before for 156 and finished with 3 wickets along with Archer.
Pak bowlers run through top-order
Pakistan bowlers took full advantage of helpful conditions and reduced England 12/3 in 6th over itself. Openers Burns and Sibley were both caught leg before while Stokes was bowled off a peach from Abbas. Bowled of scrambled seam, the ball drifted in a bit and then seamed away ever so slightly to beat the outside of Stokes’ bat and rattle the top of off stump. Pope, a reminiscent of former English batsman Ian Bell in his technique, came to his team’s rescue. Riding on his half century(62), and two important stands with Root of 50 and with Buttler of 65 runs, England went past 200. A quick fire 29 from Broad took England to an eventual 219, conceding a huge lead of 107 runs. Yasir Shah was the wrecker-in-chief bagging 4 wickets.
English bowlers fight back
Being 107 runs behind already, England bowlers bowled their heart out and were rewarded accordingly. None of Pakistan’s top order batsmen could reach even 30. First innings centurian Masood went for duck, strangled down the leg side off Broad. Abid mistimed a sweep off Bess to deep square leg. Woakes removed Azhar and Babar in quick succession. Asad looked good for his 29 but was unfortunately run-out. Yasir Shah top scored with an entertaining 33 off 24 balls. Pakistan were all-out for a paltry 169. Broad finished with figures of 3/37.
Fourth innings run chase
After losing Burns early, lbw to Abbas, Sibley and Root provided a strong platform for chasing 277 with 64 run stand. Fall of Sibley’s wicket, caught at slip off Yasir, brought a mild collapse. Root edged a fast nagging ball of Naseem Shah. Yasir Shah’s googly bounced awkwardly from rough to brush Stokes’ gloves. Pope got an unplayable ball from Afridi that bounced from good length and lobbed up to gully off his gloves. Pakistan were cruising towards an imminent win having reduced England 117/5 but Butter and Woakes had something else in their minds. Buttler was under immense pressure already as another failure would have seen him out of the team but he did not let this opportunity go in vain. Slowly but surely, he and Woakes took the game away from Pakistan’s pocket with their hard-fought 139-run partnership. Just 21 runs short of victory Buttler fell for 75, trying to reverse sweep Yasir, a shot he had been playing to good effect till that point. Everyone wondered if there was another twist in the tale, with new ball also due just 2 overs later. But Woakes denied any chance of comeback to Pakistan and saw his team through to victory with 81 not out. He was awarded Player of the match for his exploits with bat and scalping 4 crucial wickets too.