Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo, [email protected]
LAST week’s Test match between Pakistan and England in Multan, Pakistan, saw a historic result that no cricket fan could have predicted.
Pakistan batted first and amassed an impressive 556 runs in their first innings. However, England’s response shocked everyone as they declared with a massive score of 823/7 after 150 overs, leaving Pakistan with a daunting 267-run deficit in the first innings.
When Pakistan entered the fifth and final day, they had no answer to England’s impressive bowling attack. They crumbled and were bowled out for 220 runs inside the first session, resulting in an innings defeat.
This was the first time in Test history that a team lost a match by an innings after scoring over 500 runs in their first attempt.
Not only did Pakistan suffer this unwanted feat, but their bowlers also achieved another unwanted record.
As Joe Root and Harry Brook orchestrated the fourth-highest innings total in Test cricket, Pakistani bowlers struggled to contain them.
This resulted in six of their bowlers conceding more than 100 runs in the innings, becoming only the second team in Test cricket history to have this happen to them.
The first time this occurred was during the Bulawayo Test match between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka in May 2004. It was a similar situation in which six Zimbabwean bowlers conceded more than 100 runs as the Sri Lankans finished their innings on 713/3 (declared), winning the match by an innings and 254 runs.
Douglas Hondo, Tinashe Panyangara, Tawanda Mupariwa, Mluleki Nkala, Elton Chigumbura and Stuart Matsikenyeri all went for more than 100 runs each, with Hondo being hit for 116 runs in 29 overs.
The Sri Lankans dominated the game, with Kumar Sangakkara scoring a remarkable 270 runs off 365 balls. Marvan Atapattu also added 249 runs off 324 deliveries, while Mahela Jayawardene finished unbeaten on 100 runs from 152 balls.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s six talented bowlers, including Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Aamer Jamal, Agha Salman and Saim Ayub, all struggled to contain England’s batting onslaught in the first Test.
They conceded more than 100 runs each, with Afridi receiving the axe after finishing with figures of 1/120 in 26 overs.
Shah didn’t fare much better, claiming only two wickets for 157 runs in 31 overs. Ahmed also struggled to take a wicket, conceding a massive 174 runs in 35 overs. Jamal and Agha both picked up a solitary wicket but were hit hard, registering figures of 1/126 and 1/118 respectively. Ayub provided some respite, taking two wickets for 101 runs in 14 overs.
England’s batting was on fire, with Root and Brook leading the charge. Brook top-scored with a phenomenal 317 runs from 322 balls, while Root contributed 262 runs from 375 balls.
Their incredible partnership of 454 runs broke England’s highest Test score for any wicket, as well as the highest fourth-wicket partnership in Tests. They broke the 449 runs record set by Shaun Marsh and Adam Voges in 2015.
After the disappointing result, Pakistan made significant changes to their squad for the second and third Tests, dropping notable players like Babar Azam, Afridi and Shah. This was to strengthen the team’s bowling attack and bounce back in the remaining matches.
Online Reporter