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Thursday March 28, 2024

Pakistan level series 2-2 with emphatic win

By Khalid Hussain
August 15, 2016

Yasir Shah sizzles with 5-71 as Pakistan record ten-wicket triumph at their

happy hunting ground on Independence Day

LONDON: There was a victory lap and Pakistan’s flag were seen fluttering everywhere at The Oval on the 69th Independence Day of the country.

The timing of Pakistan’s 10-wicket triumph could not have been more perfect.

Trailing 1-2 in the four-Test series, Pakistan faced a must-win situation and put their best foot forward. They bowled well on the opening day, batted better on the next two and finally went for the kill on the fourth.

In the end, they were celebrating Independence Day with a convincing victory in the fourth and final Test against England to level the series and keep their hopes of becoming world’s number one team alive.

After bowling out England for 253 in the second innings, Pakistan comfortably sailed to a target of 40 runs without losing a wicket to end the series at 2-2.

Azhar Ali (30 off 28 balls) sealed victory with a six off Moeen Ali over long-on. Sami Aslam remained unbeaten on 12.

Yasir Shah was the hero for Pakistan as he picked up 5-71 to play a lead role in the victory after Younis Khan set it up with a match-winning 218 on the third day. Wahab Riaz finished with 2-48 including the prized wicket of Jonny Bairstow, the top performer of England’s second innings.

The win underlined The Oval’s status as Pakistan’s happy hunting ground as it was their fifth victory at the ground.

England’s hopes were carried by Bairstow, who fought valiantly with a gutsy 81 but fell way short of saving his team.

Together with Gary Ballance, Bairstow helped England make a positive start at 88-4 as the home team looked to somehow save the Test and win the series. They batted for almost 15 overs braving a fiery onslaught from Wahab Riaz and adding 40 runs to the England total.

While Wahab continued to put pressure on the English batsmen with sheer pace, it was the line and length of Sohail Khan that earned Pakistan the first breakthrough of the day. Sohail extracted extra bounce and seam movement off his fourth delivery of the day to get the left-handed Ballance caught behind. Balance scored 17 off 62 balls and his dismissal brought the in-form Moeen Ali to the crease.

With a series of good scores including a century in the first innings, Moeen began confidently and put up a sixth-wicket stand of 65 to revive memories of Edgbaston where the duo had produced a match-winning partnership. England were 193 for 5 and with just five minutes to go before lunch, it seemed that the session would belong to them. But Yasir, who was hoisted for a towering six by Moeen over long-on, scalped him with one that went straight on. There was some extra bounce in the delivery as Yasir targetted the rough outside the left-hander’s off stump. Sarfraz Ahmed took a sharp catch, squashing any hopes England had left of saving the match.

It was game over for England soon after lunch when they lost Chris Woakes and Jonny Bairstow on successive deliveries in the 66th over bowled by Wahab.

The first to go was Woakes, the in-form all-rounder losing his wicket to a shambolic run-out as Bairstow turned back after making the call. Bairstow fell the next ball caught brilliantly at extra-cover by Azhar Ali.

His 81 off 127 balls was the reason why England managed to take the Test into the final session of the fourth day. In the progress the wicketkeeper-batsman became only the second player after India’s VVS Laxman to accumulate 900-plus runs in a year batting at No. 6 or lower.

Once Bairstow was gone it was only a matter of time as Yasir Shah dismissed Stuart Broad and debutant Iftikhar Ahmed took his first Test wicket (Jimmy Anderson). England were bowled out for 253.

The only low point of the day for Pakistan was when Wahab had to be taken out of the attack in the 75th over after he received his third and final warning from umpire Bruce Oxerford for running on the danger area of the pitch.

Score Board

England won toss

England 1st innings 328 all-out (M Ali 108; Sohail 5-68, Wahab 3-93)

Pakistan 1st innings 542 all-out (Younis Khan 218, Asad Shafiq 109; Woakes 3-82)

England 2nd innings

*A N Cook c Iftikhar b Wahab        7

A D Hales lbw b Yasir 12

J E Root lbw b Yasir   39

J M Vince c Misbah b Yasir    0

G S Ballance c Sarfraz b Sohail       17

†J M Bairstow c Azhar b Wahab      81

M M Ali c Sarfraz b Yasir      32

C R Woakes run out  4

S C J Broad c Younis b Yasir 5

S T Finn not out        16

J M Anderson lbw b Iftikhar  17

Extras (b 8, lb 10, nb 5)      23

Total (all out; 79.2 overs)    253

Fall: 1-14, 2-49, 3-55, 4-74, 5-128, 6-193, 7-209, 8-209, 9-221, 10-253

Bowling: Amir 21.4-7-65-0; Sohail 15-2-50-1; Wahab 11.2-1-48-2 (5nb); Yasir 29-4-71-5; Iftikhar 2.2-1-1-1

Pakistan 2nd innings

Sami Aslam not out   12

Azhar Ali not out       30

Extras 0

Total (0 wickets; 13.1 overs)         42

Did not bat: Iftikhar Ahmed, Younis Khan, *Misbah-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, †Sarfraz Ahmed, M Amir, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Sohail Khan

Bowling: Woakes 4-0-11-0; Finn 0.2-0-0-0; Ali 5.5-0-30-0; Root 3-2-1-0

Result: Pakistan won by 10 wickets

Series: 4-match series drawn by 2-2

Test debut: Iftikhar Ahmed (Pakistan)

Man of the Match: Younis Khan (Pakistan)

Man of the Series: Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan) and Chris Woakes (England)

Umpires: M Erasmus (South Africa) and B N J Oxenford (Australia). TV umpire: J S Wilson (West Indies). Match referee: R B Richardson (West Indies)