Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan have done it again for Pakistan in the deciding Test in Rawalpindi against England, picking 19 of the 20 wickets and helping the hosts stage an unbelievable comeback in the three-match Test series, winning it 2-1. Trailing 0-1 heading into the second Test in Multan, Pakistan made several changes to the playing XI, including adding this spin pair, who wreaked havoc.

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It is Pakistan’s first Test series win over England since November 2015, at home since 2021 and under Test captain Shan Masood.

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Meanwhile, day three of the final Test in Rawalpindi began with both spinners tearing into England’s middle order. Following a 46-run stand for the fourth wicket, Noman Ali struck twice quickly to remove Harry Brook (26) and England captain Ben Stokes (3), whose horrible tour of Pakistan ended in disarray. Joe Root was Noman’s next big scalp on 33, as he completed another five-for in this series. 

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Sajid Khan gave the finishing touches before Noman removed Jack Leach on ten to end England’s second innings on 112. 

Pakistan needed 36 runs to win the third Test and win the series.

Captain Shan does it for Pakistan

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After Jack Leach removed Saim Ayub, trapped in the front on eight, Captain Shan Masood whacked all six balls he faced for boundaries, hitting the six off Shoaib Bashir to complete the chase and win the match for Pakistan by nine wickets.

While Noman Ali finished the series with 20 wickets from two matches, averaging 13.85, Sajid – the Player of the Series, returned with 19 wickets.

“Thankful to God the series win. There was no pressure as such; I was making a comeback, but there were people who backed me, and I had played FC cricket. Off the field, I'm not like this; I'm funny; Kamran Ghulam is my best friend, but you need to behave like this to lift the team's morale,” Sajid reflected on his performance across both Tests.

On the other end, England captain Stokes lamented the series loss as disappointing, more so after their confidence, momentum and position following the win in the first Test in Multan.

“Disappointing, losing games and losing series. We weren’t able to match the challenges in the last two games, credit to Pakistan. Moving forward, we’ll look to match those challenges as we come up against them. Couple of weeks time, we’ll be up against New Zealand. The summer finished late, the lads worked really hard, but when you get out there in the middle, it’s all really different,” the captain noted.

Meanwhile, Pakistan was without their star players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah for the last two Tests that the hosts won. The newcomer Kamran Ghulam and the experienced spin duo of Sajid and Noman did the job for the team.

(With inputs from agencies)