Daily Times

Against expectations, spirited Pakistan took the wind out of England sails when they defeated the hosts by nine wickets in the first Test of the two-match series at Lord’s on Sunday. Hats off to the Pakistan team members, having superb talent and abilities, who finished the Test inside four days. After a hard-earned victory against Ireland in their backyard in one-off Test earlier this month, clinical Pakistan struck again to dent England’s pride too. This was Pakistan fifth Test victory at Lord’s following wins at the ‘home of cricket’ in 1982, 1992, 1996 and 2016. The only other team with more wins than losses against England at Lord’s are Australia, who have won 15 and lost seven. What gives one greatest pleasure was watching how consistently Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Abbas, Hasan Ali and company managed to make England struggle in the match, which ultimately led to the brilliant triumph. The Pakistan seamers went all out to expose the home team’s fragile-looking batting to a perilous position.

What is more interesting that none of the Pakistan batsmen went on to score big or outsmart the England bowlers, but what panned out to be the perfect reply was a team effort. Fifties from four players and small but valuable contributions from others saw Pakistan slay their batting demons in England. The score set by Pakistan in their first innings looked beyond England almost from the start of their scratchy, plodding reply in their second innings. There was absence of game plan and lack of thought and application. Showing an inability to rotate the strike, against pace and spin alike, the England batsmen got stuck and never approached the run rate required to mount a genuine challenge. Except for Joe Root (68), Jos Butler (67) and Dominic Bess (57), the hosts’ batsmen lacked big partnerships, which gave Pakistan an ample opportunity to overwhelm their opponents with ease.

With Abbas and Amir to the fore, Pakistan scalped England’s supine lower order with four wickets for six runs in the space of 18 balls, before Imamul Haq and Haris Sohail made light of the early loss of Azhar Ali to stroll across the finish line in an unbroken second-wicket stand of 54. Pakistan’s win was their second Test victory at Lord’s in consecutive visits, following a famous win under Misbahul Haq in 2016, but it was arguably even more remarkable given the callow nature of a line-up that lacks any of the great batting stars of their recent history, and a bowling attack which pales in experience compared to that of their opponents. With the Lord’s win, it has become quite evident that Pakistan have started to write a new script in their cricketing history. Their infallible trust in youngsters is paying dividends with the ICC Champions Trophy triumph being one of the finest examples. It seems Pakistan have finally put the past behind and are looking towards the future – a sparkling one indeed. Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed and his charges will be tested once again at Headingley, with England coming at them all guns blazing to square the series. And how they perform there will unveil their real character. This win, no doubt, has given Pakistan the flip they needed to walk tall holding their heads high to make this short tour memorable.

Published in Daily Times, May 28^th 2018.