Noman Ali spins Pakistan to famous victory
Pakistan v England, Multan — Day 4
PAKISTAN 366 and 221
ENGLAND 291 and 144
Pakistan win by 152 runs
The match position at the start of play was a simple and straight forward affair:
Pakistan needed 8 wickets for a first victory on home soil since 2021
England needed 261 runs for their largest 4th innings win in Asia since 1961
6.06am POPE caught and bowled Sajid Khan (22)
6 minutes, 1 run and the 8th ball of the morning accounts for the England vice captain. Heavily criticised by Michael Atherton on TV co-commentary for his choice of shot, I saw a puff of dust from a deteriorating wicket and another gem of a spinning delivery from Sajid Khan forcing Pope into a drive straight back into the bowler’s hands for a simple catch.
Cue his trademarked celebration!
6.21am ROOT lbw bowled Noman Ali (18)
Although I hoped to be wrong, I gave Root out immediately watching live and sadly for the ex England captain, so did both the on field and TV umpire too. Just over 20 minutes into the morning’s play, England had added just 19 runs for the loss of 2 wickets and 242 further runs for victory was already looking a distant fantasy rather than the near impossible task before play even began.
6.41am BROOK lbw bowled Noman Ali (16)
As with Root’s dismissal above I hoped to be wrong again with my instant dismissal of Brook whilst watching live but again, all was in vain. Noman Ali’s third wicket of the innings was a clever and quicker delivery that rather trapped Brook back in his crease who could only try an emergency hack and swipe across his stumps as the ball crashed into his pads.
6.54am SMITH caught Shan Masood bowled Noman Ali (6)
The one really poor shot of the morning but understandable given the condition of both the wicket and the match position, Smith’s thick edge looped high and lazily into the sky before being easily snaffled by the Pakistan captain and this time I agreed wholeheartedly with Michael Atherton as he opined “England are in a deep, deep hole”.
7.15am STOKES stumped Mohammad Rizan bowled Noman Ali (37)
The England captain’s stout, run-a-ball resistance came to a rather comical end as he lost control of his bat (last seen 40 yards away at the short fine leg position!) and whilst Stokes was on his hands and knees and yards from his crease, Mohammad Rizwan had the simple task of whipping off the bails.
At 125–7 England’s run chase total was now immaterial and Pakistan needed just 3 wickets for victory.
7.35am CARSE caught Salman Ali Agha bowled Noman Ali (27)
Together with captain Stokes, Brydon Carse provided a determined resistance intermingled with 3 huge boundary clearing 6’s before he tried once more and only succeeded in feathering a looping edge into the gleeful hands of Salman Ali Agha at 1st Slip. Noman Ali now had 6 innings wickets, Pakistan were a further 2 wickets from victory, and Noman Ali would scalp them both in double quick time.
7.41am LEACH caught Abdullah Shafique bowled Noman Ali (1)
A defensive prod forward saw a slight inside edge into his pads and a straight forward catch for Abdullah Shafique at the bat/pad position.
7.45am BASHIR caught Abdullah Shafique bowled Noman Ali (0)
An exact replica one delivery later, but this time Bashir’s perfect forward defensive shot was brilliantly and eagerly grabbed by a sprawling Abdullah Shafique, Pakistan had deservedly triumphed by 152 runs and Noman Ali had the frankly ridiculous innings figures of 8 wickets for 46 runs.
England lost their final 8 wickets this morning for the addition of 108 runs in just an hour and 45 minutes and Pakistan were worthy, worthy winners. I’ll perhaps refrain from adding any further commentary here aside from stating this week’s result made rather a mockery of my 3–0 England prediction last week! But such is the joy of the grand old game of cricket! Immediately post-match, England captain Ben Stokes readily admitted his team had faced a “hard task” this morning that they simply couldn’t “eke out” and nudge their way in trying to win as there was always a likelihood of receiving a “ball with your name on it” and they “took the game on as it was the only way to win it”. Counterpart Shan Masood highly praised not only his players but the entire behind the scenes support staff and collective group, recognising today was “special after some tough times”. Pressed for comment he naturally singled out Noman Ali and Sajid Khan for individual praise and their air of being “seasoned campaigners” and “front runners” despite their respective limited experience of Test Match cricket to date before once again returning to the collective of “everyone else chipping in” to a much deserved and much needed home win.
Rather than my predicted 3–0 England whitewash, the teams recommence cricketing battle in a week’s time in Rawalpindi with the series level at 1–1.
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Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.