England needed an hour and 36 minutes to wrap up one of their most famous away wins in Multan this morning, dismissing Pakistan for 220 to secure victory by an innings and 47, and take a 1-0 lead in this three-match series.
Resuming on 152 for six, still 115 short of making England bat again, the Pakistan resisted for an hour until Jack Leach removed Salman Agha lbw for 63 with the fourth ball after the drinks break, ending a seventh-wicket stand of 109 with Aamer Jamal.
If that exposed the tail, England didn’t always make life easy for themselves. Ollie Pope dropped Jamal off the luckless Brydon Carse on 50 as he ran back from square leg – Jamal’s second reprieve after he had been missed by Shoaib Bashir at deep backward square on the fourth evening, also off Carse.
But with No 11 Abrar Ahmed still in hospital with fever, England knew they needed only two more wickets to secure the win. And, in his first Test since January, Leach provided them.
First he dived athletically to his left to hold a superb return catch and send back Shaheen Shah Afridi for 10. And, three balls later, it was all over as Naseem Shah – looking to repeat his straight six from the previous delivery – was easily stumped by Jamie Smith.
Jack Leach (middle left) took four wickets for 30 runs in the second Pakistan innings to help secure England the win
Salman Agha lbw for 63 with the fourth ball after the drinks break, ending a seventh-wicket stand of 109
Pakistan become the first team in Test history to score over 500 first time round and lose by an innings
That left Leach with second-innings figures of four for 30, and seven in the match on a surface that barely seamed or spun across the four and a bit days. It was some performance.
And it meant Pakistan became the first team in Test history to score over 500 first time round and lose by an innings – another astonishing turnaround for England’s Bazballers, who rode on the back of Harry Brook’s 317, Joe Root’s 262 and a reply of 823 for seven, their highest post-war total.
The second Test begins here in Multan on Tuesday, where victory would give England their third successive series win after a successful summer against West Indies and Sri Lanka.
