Karachi [Pakistan], December 20 (ANI): After facing a Test series 3-0 clean sweep defeat against England at home, Pakistan captain Babar Azam expressed his disappointment with the team’s performance during the third and final match of the series.
England defeated Pakistan by eight wickets in the final test of the three-match series to complete a historic 3-0 clean sweep after their comprehensive performance throughout the series here at the National Stadium, Karachi on Tuesday.
Pakistan suffered their first series whitewash on home soil after the English team played an amazing brand of aggressive cricket to trounce them thrice in the test series.
“Disappointing as a team. We were not good enough to fight back but, credit to England they played really well. In the first inning we lost back-to-back wickets, we were good in patches but not good for longer periods and that cost us. Our bowlers fought back very well, but unfortunately, that wasn’t good enough. A lot of positives in the series and we will carry that to the next series and we will also discuss where we fell short and correct that,” Babar Azam said in a post-match presentation.
Coming to the match, on the fourth morning in Karachi, England required 38 minutes to finish off a decisive eight-wicket victory, eventually reaching their fourth-innings target of 167 in 28.1 overs.
After an unsuccessful bid to win the third Test in three days, England were a little more cautious on the fourth morning, but still took only 11.1 overs to complete the clean sweep with captain Ben Stokes undefeated on 35 at one end while Duckett with unbeaten 82 runs, at the other end.
England resumed their inning on the fourth day at 112-2, with Stokes at 15* and Duckett on 50*. The duo took England to victory within an hour only requiring close to 12 overs for the remaining 55 runs.
In an incredibly spectacular return to test cricket, Duckett continued to sweep, reverse-sweep, and paddle-sweep Abrar Ahmed while Stokes set the tone by muscling the third ball he faced through midwicket.
Earlier, Pakistan had suffered a dramatic collapse in their second inning which saw them lose their last 7 wickets for 52 runs, extending their lead to a paltry 166-run which was never going to be enough against the free-flowing English batting line-up.
Debutant Rehan Ahmed was the wrecker-in-chief as he scalped five wickets and made an excellent start to his test career.
Following the final match of his lengthy and illustrious international career for Pakistan, Azhar Ali was cheered off the field while holding a souvenir stump. The former Pakistan captain appeared in 97 tests and scored 7097 runs at 42.49, including 19 centuries.
Harry Brook, who amassed 468 runs in five innings to lead the tour, was declared Player of the Series after scoring three centuries in the series.
Since Stokes and Brendon McCullum took over as captain and coach, respectively, England has won nine out of ten Test matches, a remarkable turnaround from a run of just one victory in 17 prior to their appointments. They destroyed a fragile Pakistani team in their first Test series in Pakistan since 2005. (ANI)
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