Daily Times

Spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan suppressed England’s batting attack inside three days and earned Pakistan a long-awaited and series-clinching nine-wicket win in the third and final test on Saturday.

The 38-year-old left-arm spinner Ali and off-spinner Khan, 31, had grabbed all 20 wickets on a recycled second test pitch to level the series last week and yet again clipped the batters on an engineered dry surface by sharing 19 wickets as England was dismissed for 112 on Day 3.

It was England´s lowest innings total in Pakistan, eclipsing its previous score of 130 all out in Lahore in 1987.

Pakistan, which got a meaningful 77-run first innings lead, reached 37-1 at the stroke of lunch to notch its first home series win since 2021 when it beat South Africa 2-0.

Skipper Shan Masood (23 not out), who lost six successive test matches as captain before England got beaten in the second test, sealed the win with a six over long-off against Shoaib Bashir after smashing four successive boundaries to Jack Leach.

“It´s special,” Masood said. “The first win came after a long time and it was backed up by a series win … it´s about character. To be here and standing as the wining team, it´s the most special thing for us.”

Leach grabbed the only wicket to fall when he successfully went for an lbw television referral against Saim Ayub, who made eight.

The win was a sweet revenge for the home team, which was knocked over by England 3-0 when it last toured Pakistan two years ago under the captaincy of Ben Stokes.

England’s batting folded meekly against the spin duo for the second time around as Ali followed his three wickets in the first innings with 6-42 on a wicket which was dried out by industrial-sized giant fans and outdoor heaters.

Khan grabbed 4-69 to add to his first innings six-wicket haul as England batters couldn´t negotiate the variable bounce and the turn Khan and Ali extracted of the pitch.