On Saturday, spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan worked together to annihilate England and bowl Pakistan to a nine-wicket victory in the deciding third test, giving Pakistan a memorable 2-1 series victory.
Since claiming a handy 77-run lead in the first innings on a surface where spinners from both teams dominated, Pakistan had been in control.
In their second innings, Noman (6-42) and Sajid (4-69) bowled England out for a meager 112 and left Pakistan needing only 36 runs to win the series.
Prior to securing victory on day three of the match, Pakistan lost Saim Ayub.
Shan Masood, the captain of the home team, hit Jack Leach for four fours in a row before hitting a six off Shoaib Bashir’s first ball of the next over to secure their victory.
Noman and Sajid took 19 of England’s 20 wickets, and Pakistan didn’t use their only seamer, Aamer Jamal, in the match, which was a clear sign of the surface’s spin-friendly nature.
Since being selected in the middle of the series, the pair has taken 39 of the 40 English wickets. England resumed on 24-3, losing wickets frequently as Noman and Sajid ran through their batting order.
Pakistan’s victory was only a matter of time once Joe Root, who was 33 years old, was defeated by Noman. Pakistan’s rampaging spinners seemed to be more at ease than Root.
The England team’s approach to the match was summed up by the dismissal of captain Ben Stokes, who failed to respond to an incoming Noman pass and was held down low and wide.
Three years ago, Pakistan defeated South Africa 2-0 to win the Green Team’s last Test series at home.
