A used delivery and spin proved England’s undoing as Pakistan ended their eleven-match winless streak at home from March 2022 (including seven defeats) with a 152-run win in the second Test in Multan. From day 4 at 36/2, England were eventually bowled out for 144 as Noman Ali finished with a career-best 8 for 46 and a match haul of 11 (his first 10-wicket haul).

It didn’t take long for Pakistan to take the first wicket of the day, with Sajid striking in the second over, taking a catch off his own bowling to send Ollie Pope back. Noman then trapped Joe Root up front, leaving England reeling at 55/4. Ben Stokes and Harry Brook tried to build a partnership but those efforts were thwarted when Noman took another lbw decision, this time to get Brook. It became 88/6 within the first hour when Noman took his fourth wicket when Jamie Smith put a slog sweep top.

Stokes meanwhile continued positively and Brydon Carse started attacking, hitting two successive sixes off Sajid as England crossed the 100-run mark. But Stokes fell soon afterwards, tripping Noman as the 38-year-old left-arm spinner ended a 37-run stand to bag his fifth five-wicket haul. Carse hit his third six with a slog sweep off Sajid, while Matthew Potts came off the mark with a well-swept boundary from the same bowler.

But Noman ended Carse’s stay by catching him at slip and leaving England trailing. Noman’s seventh wicket was Jack Leach who delivered a catch to short leg and left arm to catch Shoaib Bashir at a foolish point and take eight wickets in an innings for the first time.

The foundation for Pakistan’s victory was laid in the first innings, with both bat and ball. Kamran Ghulam, who replaced Babar Azam, scored a century on debut while Saim Ayub scored 77. The middle order also came up with useful contributions to propel Pakistan to 366. Ben Duckett led England’s response with a century, but the rest of the batters were not. to the line when Sajid ran through England with a seven-wicket haul, bowling them out for 291, giving Pakistan a handy 75-run lead.

On a pitch that offered plenty of movement, in fact an 8-wicket day as Pakistan batted into the second innings, the hosts rode on Agha Salman’s fine knock of 63 to finish with 221. A target of 297 on a tough wicket proved well over. England’s range as Noman destroyed England’s batting on the fourth morning.

Short scores: Pakistan 366 (Kamran Ghulam 118, Saim Ayub 77; Jack Leach 4-114, Brydon Carse 3-50) and 221 (Agha Salman 63, Saud Shakeel 31; Shoaib Bashir 4-66, Jack Leach 3-67) beat England 291 ( Ben Duckett 114, Joe Root 34; Sajid Khan 7-111, Noman Ali 3-101) and 144 (Ben Stokes 37, Ollie Pope 22; Noman Ali 8-46, Sajid Khan 2-93) with 152 runs.