Pakistan 344 (Shakeel 134, Sajid 48*, Noman 45, Rehan 4-66, Bashir 3-129) and 37 for 1 (Masood 23*) beat England 267 (Smith 89, Duckett 52, Sajid 6-128, Noman 3-88) and 112 (Root 33, Noman 6-42, Sajid 4-69) with nine wickets

The wait is finally over. For the first time since 2021, Pakistan have won a Test series on their home ground, coming back from 1-0 down to confirm a 2-1 success over England.

A comprehensive nine-wicket win on day three of the third and deciding Test in Rawalpindi arrived before lunch, achieved with so little fanfare that England’s one-innings victory in the opening match feels like it belongs in a different series altogether. It is only the second time in a series that Pakistan has come from behind and the first time this has happened at home.

Before Masood eloped with Abdullah Shafique, Noman and Sajid had done so hand in hand, basking in the glory of instigating England’s collapse on day three, in which the last seven wickets fell for just 46, and the fact that their introductions turning the series on its head. head. Since being included in the squad after the tourists took a 1-0 lead, they have managed 39 wickets between them – Noman’s left-arm spin taking 20 at 1.85pm, Sajid’s off breaking 19 from 9.01pm.

And yet things started quietly enough for England. They started Saturday’s 53 trailing at 24 for 3, but in Root and Brook they had two batters capable of erasing that deficit and then some.

When Brook started the 13th by hitting Sajid for back-to-back fours – first through cover and then mid-attack – the more pessimistic Pakistani fans might have wondered whether the Yorkshire pair were about to embark on another match start. tilting partnership. After all, it was these two who combined for all 454 in the first Test in Multan.

However, that was before Sajid and Noman joined the series. And after the former adjusted his line to keep Brook honest, the latter followed up a slow delivery with a much faster one that was cut late into the gloves of Mohammad Rizwan. Pakistan’s lead had been reduced to eleven, but the first domino had fallen. Others followed suitably.

Stokes’ problems against spin continued, inexplicably setting up a direct delivery from Noman, expecting a turn over the wicket that never came. Jamie Smith’s strike on Sajid was almost as poor, bowled off a stump by a wild swing that belied the sensitivity he had shown with a carrying 89 in the first innings.

It was just four balls after Smith’s dismissal that England took the lead, and any hopes they had of extending that in a meaningful way ended when Root was caught by a pearler from Noman with the lead by eight. Perfect dip on a length to drag the right-hander forward from around the wicket, before there was just enough spin – it was a delivery that the 38-year-old had served a few times, but only Root was good enough to nick. A

Sajid stepped in to cut off the tail, yoking Gus Atkinson before knocking back Rehan Ahmed’s leg stump for his second 10-wicket match. And it looked like he had scored a second five-for in the match when Shoaib Bashir got LBW on the sweep.

A cursory DRS review came in favor of the No. 11, with the impact on the pad coming outside the stump. The delay yielded only two extra runs as Noman caught Leach as he missed the attack and fired one of the advancing southpaws wide, cleverly bumped by Rizwan.

A lead of 35 was always going to be light work on a pitch that was far from demonic, but it was the introduction of Masood that ensured the formalities were completed within 3.1 overs. Ayub started the chase with a pair of fours at the end of the first over before Leach put him ahead, confirmed via DRS after another errant decision from umpire Sharfuddoula.

But even his dismissal put some icing on the cake as Masood lifted the team to his first series win as captain. Having started his tenure with six straight defeats before the second Test of this series, it was hard to begrudge him that honour.