England continued to be the standard-bearers of test cricket beating Pakistan by 74 runs in the first test match at Rawalpindi.
Ollie Robinson (4 wickets) and James Anderson (4 wickets) were the main men for the visitors as they knocked over Pakistan on the final day for 268 runs in the chase of 343 as Ben Stokes’ brave declaration on the penultimate day paid dividends.
Having resumed their innings on 80/2 Pakistan batted valiantly for the majority of the day but lost wickets at crucial junctures to fall well short of the target.
Imam ul Haq (48) failed to add anything meaningful to his overnight score of 43 becoming the day’s first casualty as he edged a James Anderson ball to Ollie Pope off his legs.
Saud Shakeel (76) and Mohammad Rizwan (46) steadied the ship before Anderson again showed his class to break their 87-run stand.
Robinson then entered the fray to remove Shakeel and turn the game towards England before Azhar Ali (40) and Agha Salman (30) safely got Pakistan to the tea break as the match hung in the balance.
There was still one twist left in the first test match between Pakistan and England as the visitors quickly struck twice to remove the set pair with Robinson accounting for both wickets.
Naseem Shah (6), Zahid Mahmood (1), Haris Rauf (0) and Mohammad Ali (0) did the best they could but were proverbial sitting ducks as England picked them off one by one to seal the win in their first test match in Pakistan after 17 years.
Scores in brief:
England 1st innings: 657-all out
Pakistan 1st innings: 579-all out
England 2nd innings: 264-7 (declared)
Pakistan 2nd innings: 268-all out
