England (657 & 264/7d) defeat Pakistan (579 & 268) by 74 runs to win the 1st Test in Rawalpindi

[ex-q-zit]

Fitting end to record-breaking Test match

With less than 10 minutes to go to close of play on day five, England sneaked in a sensational win to justify a bold declaration call earlier on day four.

From a record-breaking opening day to an edge-of-the-seat thriller late on day five, the Rawalpindi Test wasn't short of action.

Jack Leach ended Naseem Shah's 46-ball vigil by beating his bat to rap the pads to spark off celebrations in the England camp. It was a fitting end to a riveting Test match that saw multiple records broken.

The most runs in a five-day Test match ever

1768 runs came in the Test match where England and Pakistan combined to make over 1200 runs in their respective first innings. This is the highest tally of runs made in a Test match over five days.

The only two other higher-scoring Tests were the timeless Tests between England and South Africa in 1939 and the West Indies and England in 1930.

Two double-century opening stands

On what was a batting paradise, both opening pairs made merry, recording double-century stands in the first innings. This was the first ever time in a Test match that there were two double-hundred partnerships for the first wicket.

The Test also witnessed the only instance of all four openers making hundreds in the first batting innings of their respective teams.

England's breakneck pace of scoring

Day one had seen the most runs scored in the first day of a Test match, a record 506 runs put together in 75 overs, with 15 overs unused in the day due to bad light!

Scoring at a stunning run rate of 6.75 in the day, England had four centurions on day one, which again was a record for the first day of a Test.

Day one had seen the most runs scored in the first day of a Test match, a record 506 runs put together in 75 overs, with 15 overs unused in the day due to bad light!

Scoring at a stunning run rate of 6.75 in the day, England had four centurions on day one, which again was a record for the first day of a Test.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/2977464

 

[MenInG]

 

[ex-q-zit]

James Anderson makes extraordinary England claim after epic Pakistan victory

Veteran seamer James Anderson believes England's extraordinary victory over Pakistan is the best win he's ever been involved in.

On a lifeless Rawalpindi pitch, England refused to settle for a draw and were duly rewarded for their efforts as they forced a remarkable win. And Anderson was delighted with the victory, calling it the greatest of his 19-year Test career.

Only India legend Sachin Tendulkar has played more Tests than Anderson's 176 and the 40-year-old told the BBC : "I feel like it's the best win I've been involved in away from home and at all really.

"That wicket was so flat and unresponsive. The way we batted allowed us to set something up. It gave us time to set something up the back end. Today was a monumental effort. Stokes put in one of his spells as usual and we got over the line.

"I think the satisfaction you get from getting a win on a pitch like that, the way we've all played it should give us confidence, we had a good summer, we knew it was going to be a challenge and we all stepped up.

"It was a plan that was working well. It was working for us. Today it was more of a case of bowling tradition lengths and execute your skills as good as you could. I personally always believed that we were bowling well enough and I kept the faith until the end."

Anderson was also full of praise for England captain Ben Stokes for "thinking outside the box". He told Sky Sports : "He is someone you want to play for.

"He gives you so much confidence and the way he knows what he wants to do. He thinks about things a lot. The fields he sets and the way he tells you what to do is great.

"He is trying to do things differently. Thinking outside the box which is what you need on a pitch like this."

MSN

 

[wrongun]

One word, INTENT!

England showed intent. This is hopelessly missing from recent Pakistan captains including Babar Azam.

Inzi, Misbah, Azhar and Babar all very defensive..

Younis Khan was the last attacking captain we had.

Imran Khan used to make similar bold declarations during the 80s to try and win the game.

Because England batted so quickly it allowed them enough time to force a result despite the very flat pitch and despite Pakistan making almost 600 themselves.

Australia always bat positively in tests scoring at 4-5 runs per over. England seem to have taken this to a new level, 6.5-7 rpo!!

It remains to be seen whether England can do the same in Australia. They got thrashed by Australia 4-0 in the away Ashes last year. However, Stokes was not the captain then

The really flat pitch played right into Englands hands and made it safe for them to play that way.

That might be one of the beauties of Bazball- the more boring & conservative the hosts are, the better Bazball will work.

I think if the pitch has a bit of something in it, then England's higher risk strategy has more chance of backfiring.

Stokes golden run continues and honestly, the best team won. England made all the running and deserved the win for sticking to their guns.

Pakistan made them work hard for it, but now have to regroup and figure out a way to take 20 wickets. The batters will probably be better for the experience imo.

Ideally you could bring in Shadab but he doesn't play long forms.

To draw the series might have to prepare a bunsen and try that mystery spinner.

 

[Robert]

The really flat pitch played right into Englands hands and made it safe for them to play that way.

That might be one of the beauties of Bazball- the more boring & conservative the hosts are, the better Bazball will work.

I think if the pitch has a bit of something in it, then England's higher risk strategy has more chance of backfiring.

Stokes golden run continues and honestly, the best team won. England made all the running and deserved the win for sticking to their guns.

Pakistan made them work hard for it, but now have to regroup and figure out a way to take 20 wickets. The batters will probably be better for the experience imo.

Ideally you could bring in Shadab but he doesn't play long forms.

To draw the series might have to prepare a bunsen and try that mystery spinner.

Dunno why this wasn’t a Bunsen.

Maybe..,,, the groundsman wanted to make a pitch that lasted five days and provided a brilliant spectacle and advertisement for test cricket?

 

[Nasty Naz]

Fitting end to this loser of a team. Well deserved and I hope Babar & management get all the well earned scorn coming their way.

It's clear Babar is one of the most loser captains we have ever had & combined with Saqlain, it's led to the most conservative cricket we have ever seen. From the very start of the match, it was a disaster with the ridiculous selection of Zahid Mahmood. And then we saw the pitches, which was atrocious. And then we saw England bat for the first time in Test matches after 17 years in Pakistan and absolutely annihilate our bowlers. And then we had to witness whatever garbage level batting they were putting up on the 5th day and literally refusing to get any runs off the seamers. It was what, like 15 overs of basically going run a over?

Babar & Saqlain are losers and this team is never going anywhere with them.

 

[Ami]

I'm not a fan of England...but they were brilliant. Top class.

I get the feeling, Pakistan shut the shop too early...should have gone for it.

Not too sure about Pakistan's tail...can easily replace Mohammad Ali and Zahid with Faheem and Nawaz/Abrar.

This...
Naseem
Zahid
Haris
Ali

OR

This...
Faheem (no Ali)
Nawaz/Abrar (no Zahid)
Wasim or call in Hasan ((Haris injured)
Naseem (keeps his place)

 

[shamaan]

Why do pak continually go into test with 4 number 11s.

Most tail enders can bat these days but pak continue to go into game with only 5 or 6 genuine batsman

I said this before the tests that both Fahim and Nawaz should be in this xi.

 

[shamaan]

Pakistan's bowling lost this match.

Batting has its flaws but it can still be managed at home.

You can never win a game if your bowlers concede at 7 rpo throughout the game.

Just look at the Eng bowlers, how much they are extracting out of this benign surface while Pakistani bowlers looked amateur.

We lost this match due to the selection.

 

[shamaan]

Pakistan lost this due to the xi they picked and some of the dismissals were given to England Eg,Abdullah,Imaam,Babar,Rizwan,Azhar

 

[shamaan]

Agha isn't good enough to play as a batter or as a (all rounder)

 

[ayemgilani86]

babar azam press conference just shows our think tank just dont get it, they really think they deserved to be ina position to win in reality this was a once sided match. blaming the bowlers in this garbage pitch.
When was the last time our 'experienced' players even got us a draw on the final day even when there is a hint of reverse swing we get exposed

 

[wrongun]

Dunno why this wasn’t a Bunsen.

Maybe..,,, the groundsman wanted to make a pitch that lasted five days and provided a brilliant spectacle and advertisement for test cricket?

Not sure if you're being funny.

England made it a brilliant spectacle of Test cricket (and Pakistan with their game fightback).

Looked like a Chief Executive's pitch to me (give me 5 days of TV revenue OR ELSE!)

 

[wrongun]

babar azam press conference just shows our think tank just dont get it, they really think they deserved to be ina position to win in reality this was a once sided match. blaming the bowlers in this garbage pitch.
When was the last time our 'experienced' players even got us a draw on the final day even when there is a hint of reverse swing we get exposed

Lol really?

Blames his bowlers who came into the match with a combined maybe 15 Tests of experience in the entire attack. And I think Naseem has about 12 of those! While 300+ combined matches of batting didn't get the job done.

Until a better process is put in place to nurture some bowlers around Shaheen then results won't improve. No spinner was developed behind Yasir. Most countries try to develop a stable of quicks so when one goes down, you have a reasonably capable backup to bring in. Pakistan are forever bringing in 30 year olds for debuts and discarding them after a couple of games.

 

[PakLFC]

England scoring 500 runs in one day and we couldn't even get under 300 shows the gulf in class between the two sides. Said so yesterday that England will win that they did rather easily in the end. We don't have any class batsmen to get the job done. Don't play the average game with me when I say that even Babar Azam isn't that great. England are better then Pak in every aspect of the game much like we were all over them in the 1990's now the roles have been reversed. Even Shaqoor Rana with his outrageous cheating wouldn't be able to save us here.

Also big fried egg on the face on those who said the wicket was poor Every wicket is poor for these Pak losers.

 

[Mainul]

Fawad was badly exposed against Australia and went missing against Sri Lanka. The guy is 37. He was not going to make a difference against England who would have planned against him. Pakistan needs to introduce young blood in their batting line up.

Just 1 series failure doesn't warrant axing from the team. Azhar ,Asad Shafiq had several failures ,still got their place secured. Fawad is a seasoned campaigner, he would have come back strongly on this batting surface. He was unjustly dropped.

 

[Savak]

Just 1 series failure doesn't warrant axing from the team. Azhar ,Asad Shafiq had several failures ,still got their place secured. Fawad is a seasoned campaigner, he would have come back strongly on this batting surface. He was unjustly dropped.

Not really. Fawad failed in two series ie Australia. Fawad does not have a good record against England.

No one has the right to play for Pakistan. He was hard done by early on where he didn't get enough opportunities during his prime years but he also should blame himself because everytime he played against major big sides he flopped.

I want Azhar Ali to be axed as well.

 

[PakLFC]

Yes we shouldn't axe anyone at all. This is because there is no one better other then the injured Shaheen. All those great first class players we keep hearing about don't perform at test cricket. The list of tried and tested failures is too long.

 

[Robert]

Not sure if you're being funny.

England made it a brilliant spectacle of Test cricket (and Pakistan with their game fightback).

Looked like a Chief Executive's pitch to me (give me 5 days of TV revenue OR ELSE!)

Playing Devil’s Advocate. It was a result wicket in the end, PKN played very well, and the match was still in the balance until well into the very last session. So much more interesting than those two-day Bunsen tests when India hosted England.

 

[Sachin136]

Dunno why this wasn’t a Bunsen.

Maybe..,,, the groundsman wanted to make a pitch that lasted five days and provided a brilliant spectacle and advertisement for test cricket?

If teams are unable to bat for five days without a pitch like this, they should quit playing tests. There are plenty of pitches around the world that lead to a full 450 overs of play, but very few where Crawley can score 150 at a run a ball.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

To me a victory for game of Test Cricket as a whole.Illustration of why it has no equal in other formats.To me one of test cricket's classics,reminiscent of a 360 degree turn in plot of a Hollywood epic.Instead of meandering into draw,the game turned into a thriller,with a pulsating finish.The ebb and flow on the final day s could be preserved amongst the cherished memories of the game.Both teams spectacularly clawed back.

Cricket was the ultimate winner.Proof of evolution of the game.Decades ago one could not conceive of such a high scoring game with a result.

 

[Jazx]

England scoring 500 runs in one day and we couldn't even get under 300 shows the gulf in class between the two sides. Said so yesterday that England will win that they did rather easily in the end. We don't have any class batsmen to get the job done. Don't play the average game with me when I say that even Babar Azam isn't that great. England are better then Pak in every aspect of the game much like we were all over them in the 1990's now the roles have been reversed. Even Shaqoor Rana with his outrageous cheating wouldn't be able to save us here.

Also big fried egg on the face on those who said the wicket was poor Every wicket is poor for these Pak losers.

No doubt england is a better team than pak. But it was not an odi game where if england scored 500 in a day should be replicated by pakistan in batting. Pakistan also batted brilliantly in first innings and they batted on a slightly higher strike rate than they usually do. England won at the end because of stokes captaincy, field placements and bowling brilliantly as per the plan in 4th innings.

 

[MenInG]

James Anderson has lauded the ‘incredible effort’ of his England team-mates as they battled not only Pakistan and an unresponsive pitch but also a viral bug during their remarkable victory in Rawalpindi.

More than half of England’s playing squad were hit by a viral infection on the eve of the Test, with the ECB and PCB in talks over whether the match needed to be postponed by a day.

But England were able to field an XI for the series opener, only losing Ben Foakes to illness as Will Jacks was handed his Test debut, and the match went ahead as planned.

Joe Root was one of a handful of England players who trained the day before the Test but Anderson has revealed his former captain was struggling throughout the Test, regularly ‘puking up’ in the dressing room.

‘I can’t really put it into words because it’s hard. It was an awful start to the week,’ England’s record wicket-taker, 40, said.

‘Actually, the morning of the game, not knowing if we’re going to get 11 players on the field or going to bed the night before not knowing if we’re going to wake up and there’s going to be enough fit players.

‘But then the way the lads have just stood up and just cracked on really, there’s been no whinging.

‘Rooty has been off the field every half an hour puking up throughout the game, which was an amazing effort from him to bat the way he did.

Related video: 'Greatest ever win for England' as they outplay Pakistan in Historic Test

‘Then, to be out on the field. An incredible effort from everyone. And I still can’t quite believe we’ve got a result on this pitch. It’s just incredible.’

In a remarkable Test match, England posted 657 in just 101 overs as Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Harry Brook all made fluent centuries on day one.

Despite this, the Test appeared to be heading for a dull draw as Pakistan responded with 579 – Imam ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique and Babar Azam scoring tons.

But England then smashed 264 in 36 overs before declaring, giving Pakistan four sessions to chase 343 on a pitch that remained superb for batting.

The hosts were in the driving seat at 176-3 and 259-5 but England produced a heroic final session to bowl Pakistan out late on day five for 268.

Anderson, who took four wickets in the final innings, added: ‘The lads are saying that is the best away victory but I can’t remember many better than that at home either to be honest.

‘To force the result on that wicket just took an absolutely mammoth effort from everyone, the way we batted in the first innings, 650-odd runs in 100-odd overs was outstanding. And everyone contributed to that, which is great.

‘We knew we were going to declare and have a bowl of them that night. We didn’t necessarily think it would be at tea. But the way we batted allowed us to declare at tea and dangle them a carrot, which on this wicket, I think we needed to do.

‘Because, as we saw at the back end of the day when they’ve just dead-batted it, it was very hard to get anything out of it.

‘We knew it was going to be a nervy one. But the way we stuck at our task was just brilliant.’

Pakistan will look to level the three-match series when the second Test starts on Friday in Multan.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/cri...sedgntp&cvid=a66a406d01ea42f78bed87eb9856ca0d