Pakistan win the first Test at Lord’s by 75 runs.
Advertisement
Pakistan eventually went on to post 542 before being bowled out and took a first-innings lead of 214 runs, after which they bowled England out for just 253 runs.
England paid the price for conceding a first-innings deficit of 214 – thanks largely to back-to-form Younus Khan’s 218 and a century too from Asad Shafiq.
“We had a conversation with both the Test and the one-day squad at least 10 or 12 days before Reg went on the trip, and we all agreed we wouldn’t spend any time talking about Bangladesh”, said Farbrace after stumps on the second day of the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at The Oval on Friday.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Monday phoned Misbah-ul-Haq, captain of Pakistan Test Cricket and congratulated him on the victory of Pakistan cricket team in the fourth Test match against England at The Oval.
The teams will now contest five one-day internationals and one T20 match.
Had England beaten Pakistan and results from India’s tour of the Caribbean gone their way, Cook’s outfit would have hit the summit of the Test world rankings for the first time since 2012.
“Until they get back and have made their report, there’s absolutely nothing for us to decide at the moment”.
Pakistan’s achievement is all the more impressive as they have not played a Test series on home soil since an armed attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore in 2009 turned the country into a no-go area for the world’s leading Test nations. Chris Woakes’ emergence behind Jimmy Anderson as England’s second best bowler is a massive positive but Stuart Broad has taken only 13 wickets here and has not locked into a hot streak this summer.
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 328 (Moeen Ali 108, J.M. Bairstow 55, C.R. Woakes 45; Sohail Khan 5-68, Wahab Riaz 3-93).
Stokes has been sidelined with knee and calf injuries while Wood has undergone two ankle surgeries since last playing for England in a Test against Pakistan in Dubai in October. Add to that he has had a really poor Test here with a bad drop at gully, an ill-advised rant at the third umpire and an ICC fine.
While they were winning series as they did against South Africa in the winter and Sri Lanka earlier this summer, the top six was a problem that could be put on the back burner.
The Independent stated that Misbah-ul-Haq and his side had started the series by celebrating in style and had finished it in the same fashion.
Hales, Vince and Ballance have batted at numbers two, four and five respectively against Pakistan.
Advertisement
In between, England has seized control of the series with wins at Old Trafford and Edgbaston.
