A series that started with England breaking records ended with England simply broken. Where they needed to fight they faltered, where the situation demanded strength they surrendered. A morning session billed as a chance for them to hunker down and battle for the game and their reputations instead became an abject procession, first of departing batters as England limped to 112 and then of boundaries as Pakistan frolicked to their derisory target of 36 in 19 balls.
England were 53 behind at the start of play with three wickets down, but also with two batters at the crease who had shared a partnership of 454 two games ago. This time Harry Brook and Joe Root added 46 and for the tourists that was as good as it got.
“We came here with two of the best players in the world not out overnight, and with the ability of the batsmen we had coming in we still had a very, very good chance of winning this game,” Ben Stokes said.
Not in this world: once Brook was dismissed the innings completely fell apart; England added 88 to their overnight score, their last seven wickets falling for 46.
They did manage to take one Pakistan wicket, but that only allowed Shan Masood to emerge for a cameo that was dismissive to the point of contempt. Coming out with 22 required he hit his first four balls for four, his fifth for a single and his sixth for six.
For about half an hour at the start of the day, the sun shone, the birds sang, and Brook and Root looked like they were in control. It says a lot about England’s innings that this period, when they scored 42 largely – if not completely – untroubled runs was by, a massive margin, their finest.
There was one half-chance, when Sajid Khan found Brook’s edge and the ball flew low to short-leg, giving Abdullah Shafique just enough time to get his fingertips to it, but also some fine shots. Just as importantly there was a sense the batters were approaching the situation with the careful watchfulness required. But when things started to go wrong they went very wrong indeed, and very quickly.
Again it was Sajid and Noman Ali who were the torturers in chief, two players with previously mediocre reputations who over the past fortnight have produced an astounding display of quality and stamina, delivering 87.4% of Pakistan’s overs and taking 39 of a possible 40 wickets. The combination of consistent quality delivered at inconsistent speeds was one England could not cope with.
Noman bowled one more ball in the series than Sajid and took one more wicket; Sajid was named player of the series and said, rightly, that it should have been shared.
Noman made the breakthrough this time, Brook undone as he had been in the first innings by a bit of extra pace. The ball did not turn, Brook attempted a cut he had no space to execute and it flicked the shoulder of the bat, or possibly his thumb, on its way into the keeper’s gloves. England had scored 66 and trailed by 11.
They had a chance so long as Stokes was in the middle, which turned out to be for six minutes. His dismissal was bizarre, offering no shot to a ball that turned slightly into him and struck him on the upper thigh. He turned to Root, seeking encouragement for a review, but there was none. He had scored three and England trailed by seven.
Jamie Smith scored 89 in the first innings, runs that felt crucial at the time and demonstrated his quality under pressure, even on a turning surface and against high-quality spinners. Perhaps he considered the point proved: this time he lasted 16 balls before running down the track to Sajid and playing an agricultural hoik across the line to a ball that spun quite sharply, beating him on the inside on its way into the stumps. He had scored three and England trailed by two.
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England’s ambitions had shifted from setting Pakistan a testing target to making them bat again. Root stayed for long enough to at least guarantee that before he was beaten by an excellent delivery from Noman that took the edge and was well caught by Rizwan. He had scored a measured 33: not exactly overwhelming but in these miserable circumstances – with Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Stokes and Smith contributing 21 between them – outstanding.
It would be wrong to say the innings petered out from there, given it had barely petered in. Sajid turned the ball inside Gus Atkinson’s bat and bowled him before doing similar to Rehan Ahmed, who tried to paddle it into the leg side but missed.
Noman then flighted one slow, short and wide, daring Jack Leach to come out of his crease to reach it. He did come out of his crease, he did not reach it and Rizwan did the rest.
