Pakistan defeated England by 152 runs to level three-match series on day four of the second Test match in Multan.

Pakistan recorded their first home Test win in almost four years as they defeated England by 152 runs in the second match in Multan on Friday, leveling the three-match series and overturning last week’s crushing defeat.

The victory also ended an 11-Test winless streak in home matches dating back to February 2021, and was secured before lunch on the fourth day as England lost eight wickets in the session and were bowled out for 144 while chasing 297.

Pakistani off-spinner Noman Ali broke both of his best bowling figures, with 8-46 in the second innings, including the last seven that fell, completing the match figures of 11-47. It was also the first time that Pakistani spinners picked up all 20 wickets to fall in a match, with Sajid Khan claiming 9-204.

Had Khan, who was bowling from the other end when the last wicket fell, had taken another wicket, it would have been the first time in the history of Test cricket that two bowlers claimed 10 wicket hauls in the same match. It was also Pakistan’s first Test win, home or away, in almost four years and came just a month after the humiliating 2-0 home series defeat to Bangladesh.

“The first one is always special and comes after some tough and trying times,” Pakistan captain Shan Masood, whose position was under increasing pressure, reflected on his first Test win.

Pakistan’s omission of Babar and Shaheen rewarded?

The humiliating one-inning, 47-run defeat to Pakistan just a week ago in Multan led to four changes for this match. The controversial omission of star batsman Babar Azam and bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi were most notable as the hosts opted to deploy seven spinners on the surface used.

“We tried to go for greenseamer (surfaces) against Bangladesh but we were a bit wrong. The only other Test we played in Multan was two years ago and it offered some spin, so we tried something different,” Masood said of the decision to start this match on the exact same track, just three days after the end of the first game of the series ended – also considered a first as far back as the history books.

“For the boys to come into action after last week and stick together to take 20 wickets was the most satisfying thing,” Masood added. “You have to applaud the group – they were hungry, you can’t doubt the effort or dedication.”

England resumed the day at 36-2 but soon lost Ollie Pope to a catch-and-bowled by Sajid for 22 runs. It was the first of four wickets to fall for 51 runs, leaving the tourists in a perilous position that even captain Ben Stokes’ 37 – the highest score of the innings – could not cancel out.

England not dissatisfied with Pakistan’s ‘whim’

Stokes scored at a run-a-ball pace, dancing down the track towards Noman and swinging his bat, sending it flying from his hands to midwicket. Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan had plenty of time to collect the ball and get the bails off while the England captain got well out of the crease.

“It would be a huge task for us given the amount of work that was happening on the wicket,” Stokes told Sky Sports. “It was incredibly tough conditions to achieve that goal – you always felt like there was a ball with your name on it.

“It would always favor whoever won the toss on a ‘Day Six’ toss before a ball was bowled. We lost a lot of wickets at the end of day two and that’s where I felt the pitch started to respond more.

England coach Brendon McCullum echoed Stokes’ thoughts that the tourists were always against it because they had lost the toss on a surface that would always help the spinners, but said there were no hard feelings about the tactic of playing again on the same surface to play.

“I don’t mind the oddity or the oddity. When you play at home, you should have home advantage. I have no problem with it at all,” McCullum told Sky Sports. “I have always noticed in Pakistan that the game gets faster and faster as the game progresses. This one was fast from the start. It is always better when there is a battle between bat and ball.”

The decisive final Test begins on October 24 in Rawalpindi. Whether Pakistan will remember two of their biggest names remains to be seen, but there is life back in Pakistani cricket, and that can only be a good thing for the global game, and not just this series. .