Multan: After a wait of over two decades, England thrash Pakistan in the Multan Test to win the three-match series by claiming another victory. The home side is out of the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 race.

The home fell short of 26 runs while chasing 355. The visitors take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the historic series. Pakistan poor streak in the red-ball cricket at home this year continued with the third defeat. So far in 2022, the home side has lost three Test matches while two resulted in draws. With the Multan defeat, Pakistan have lost three home Tests in a row for the first time since 1959.

Mark Wood grabbed four Pakistan wickets to give England a hard-fought 26-run win Monday in the second Test in Multan and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The fast bowler finished with 4-65 as Pakistan were dismissed for 328 about 50 minutes after lunch on day four, having been set a challenging 355-run target. Wood, who missed England’s 74-run win in the first Test in Rawalpindi with a hip injury, turned the match in England’s favour with the wickets of Mohammad Nawaz (45) and Saud Shakeel (94) in the space of 12 balls and one run.

Pakistan slumped to 291-7 at lunch, and after the break Agha Salman (20 not out) and Abrar Ahmed (17) tried to hit out for an unlikely win to keep the series alive. But James Anderson had Ahmed caught, Wood dismissed Zahid Mahmood without scoring and Ollie Robinson ended the match with the wicket of number eleven Mohammad Ali for zero, sparking celebrations in the England camp. Anderson and Robinson took two wickets apiece.

The win gives England their eighth win in the nine Tests since Brendon McCullum took over as head coach and Ben Stokes as captain in May this year. Those victories have been built around “Bazball”, a term coined from McCullum’s nickname, and describing the aggressive freewheeling approach the New Zealander has instilled in the side since taking over. England are now world champions in the 50-over and T20 versions of the game and rapidly ascending the Test rankings ladder.

This becomes England’s third series win in Pakistan after victories 1961 and 2000 – although they haven’t toured in 17 years because of security issues. Shakeel, who hit eight boundaries in his 314-minute vigil, added 80 runs with Nawaz as England found wickets hard to come by on a Multan pitch that slowed considerably as the game progressed. In a last-ditch effort, Stokes brought in Wood before lunch and was instantly rewarded with Nawaz caught by wicket keeper Ollie Pope. In his next over Wood forced Shakeel to play a pull shot off a short ball that caught his glove, with Pope taking a diving catch to his left.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 13 2022

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