Pakistan defeated England by nine wickets inside three days in the third Test to seal a 2-1 series victory in Rawalpindi.

Spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan suppressed England’s batting attack inside three days to give Pakistan a much-awaited nine-wicket series win in the third and final Test in Rawalpindi on Saturday.

Left-arm spinner Noman, 38, and off-spinner Sajid, 31, had taken all 20 wickets on a recycled second Test pitch last week to level the series, once again cutting the batters by 19 on a specially designed dry surface. wickets as England were dismissed for 112 on day three.

It was England’s lowest innings total in Pakistan, eclipsing their previous score of 130 all out in Lahore in 1987.

Pakistan, who secured a meaningful 77-run lead in the first innings, reached 37-1 on the stroke of lunch to record their first home series win since 2021 when they defeated South Africa 2-0.

Victory against England is ‘special’ for Pakistan

Captain Shan Masood (23 not out), who lost six consecutive Test matches as captain before beating England in the second Test, sealed victory with a six over long-off against Shoaib Bashir after smashing four consecutive boundaries against Jack Leach.

The left-arm spinner took the only wicket to fall when he successfully requested an LBW tee against Saim Ayub, who made eight.

“It’s special,” Masood said. “The first win came after a long time and was backed up by a series win… it’s about character. To be here and stand as the winning team is the most special thing for us.”

The England batsman folded meekly to the spin duo for the second time as Ali followed his three wickets in the first innings with 6-42 on a wicket dried out by industrial giant fans and outdoor heaters.

Khan took 4-69 to add to his first innings six-wicket haul as England batters could not negotiate the variable bounce and turn that Khan and Ali pulled out.

England won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs, leading to Pakistan recalling both Noman and Sajid for the remaining two Test matches and reusing the same surface in Multan to counter England’s aggressive batting.

Touring captain Ben Stokes, who missed England’s memorable victory in the first Test while recovering from a torn hamstring but returned to lead the side in tougher conditions for his batters, described his team’s performance as “disappointing”.

“We faced a number of challenges in the last two games and were unable to cope,” he said. “Thanks to Pakistan.”

Pakistan’s revenge against England ends a miserable Test run

After a precarious 24-3, Joe Root (33) and Harry Brook (26) resumed the deficit to 11 runs before England lost wickets in a cluster.

Brook got a big edge as he tried to cut Ali and the left-arm spinner held Stokes LBW from an arm ball to which the England captain shouldered his arms. England were still two runs behind when Jamie Smith (3) charged the wicket to Khan and knocked over his stump and England slid to 6-75.

Khan then ended Root’s grim resistance by finding the outside edge before England’s tail quickly folded into the spin duo. “The boys have been training hard but when you come out in the middle of it it can be very different,” admitted Stokes.

The victory was sweet revenge for the home side, who lost 3-0 to England under Stokes’ captaincy on their last tour of Pakistan two years ago.

The series victory ends a difficult and controversial period for Pakistan and Masood, who was appointed Test captain last year but whose position has come under increasing pressure. A 3-0 defeat to Australia was followed by Bangladesh recording a historic 2-0 win in Pakistan, before England posted a record-breaking 823-7 to hand Masood another defeat.

“We would like to dedicate this (serial victory) to the people of Pakistan, who have gone through a lot,” Masood said. “Hopefully this will put a smile on people’s faces and hopefully we can have full houses.”