MULTAN, Pakistan (Reuters) – England completed an extraordinary innings and 47-run victory over Pakistan on the fifth day of their record-breaking opening test after staving off a fightback from the depleted home side on Friday.
With Abrar Ahmed not batting due to illness, the tourists reduced Pakistan to 220-9 after some early resistance to spark huge celebrations among a small but vocal group of travelling English fans.
Pakistan resumed on a precarious 152-6 and Salman Agha was the first to depart in the morning after a defiant 63, with the introduction of Jack Leach helping England snap his 109-run partnership with Aamer Jamal.
England’s pace bowlers peppered the two overnight batsmen with bouncers earlier and Jamal recovered after being hit on the side of the head by a fiery ball from Brydon Carse to bring up his own half-century.
He was then granted a lifeline when stand-in captain Ollie Pope put down a difficult chance at square-leg – England’s fifth dropped catch of the innings – and remained not out on 55.
Leach pulled off a stunning catch off his own bowling to remove Shaheen Afridi before having Naseem Shah stumped to seal the victory.
England had declared after making their highest total in 86 years, a colossal 823-7 in 150 overs after Harry Brook’s 317 and Joe Root’s 262, and extracted the most out of a lifeless pitch at the Multan Cricket Stadium to rattle Pakistan on Thursday.
The hosts had flexed their muscles in the early part of the test with 556 in the first innings but found themselves under the gun trailing England by 115 runs at the end of the fourth day and they folded under pressure.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
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