In the second Test in Multan on Friday, Pakistan’s frontline spinners beat England by 152 runs to level the three-match series at 1-1. Noman Ali took eight wickets.
England were all out for 144 in the morning session of the fourth day, chasing 297 for victory on a turning track at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
With an 8-46 score, Noman stood out among the Pakistan bowlers.
It was only the seventh time and the first time in 52 years that spinners Noman and Sajid Khan had taken all 20 wickets in a Test match.
England’s captain Ben Stokes led the team with 37 goals, but their frontline batters struggled against the turning ball.
After winning his first test as Pakistan captain, Shan Masood stated, “I think the first one’s always special, and it’s come after some hard times, some rough times.”
“Noman and Sajid’s first games are never easy, but they seemed like two seasoned players when they came in and performed well in the second innings.
“That just speaks volumes for them because we didn’t need a third bowler.”
When England resumed play on 36-2, they needed an extraordinary batting effort to even come close to the target, and Pakistan had already taken control.
In the second over of the day, vice-captain Ollie Pope, 22, fell, giving off-spinner Sajid Khan a catch for a return before left-arm spinner Noman ran wild.
Joe Root could not overturn Noman’s decision to trap him lbw for 18 and deal the tourists a devastating blow.
Similar to Jamie Smith’s dismissal, England fell to 88-6 after Harry Brook (16) lost to Noman.
In his long and illustrious career, Stokes has had innings that changed the game, and England desperately needed an innings like that from him.
The captain, who was scoring runs every ball, danced down the track against Noman and swung his bat, but it fell to midwicket.
With Stokes far from the crease, Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan had ample time to collect the ball and whip it off the bail.
Stokes stated, “You have to find a way to negate that spin when you get extreme conditions like that, which I think we managed to do in some good parts.”
“… we would have liked to have gone on, especially me and a few of the guys who started, and we might even have been able to get closer, if not win the game.”
