Mark Wood’s two crucial wickets in the morning session sparked a Pakistan collapse and allowed England to storm to a series victory with a narrow 26-run win on day four of the second Test in Multan.
England had not won a Test series in Pakistan since the 2000-01 tour, but wrapped up the series on a hazy day in the City of Saints, having secured a thrilling final-session victory in the first Test at Rawalpindi.
The game had been in the balance when Pakistan started day four on 198 for four, requiring 157 more runs to win with six wickets remaining, but they slid from 290 for five to all out for 328 chasing 355.
England’s seamers found their length as Pakistan lost their final five wickets for just 38 runs, as the hosts suffered their second successive home series defeat, after losing 1-0 to Australia in March.
Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Nawaz put on 80 runs for the seventh wicket in a partnership that threatened to change the momentum of the day, before Wood’s pace proved too much for the duo.
Where Shakeel played a watchful innings without taking risks, for his 94 from 213, Nawaz played with more freedom but was caught behind off Wood
Shakeel had been the key figure for Pakistan, reaching his highest Test score, before falling agonisingly short of a maiden century when he was caught behind by a diving Ollie Pope.
The decision was reviewed and the third umpire took a long time studying the catch before determining that Pope did manage to get his gloves under the ball.
Abrar Ahmed, who starred with the ball on his debut Test and claimed 11 match wickets, came out for Pakistan after lunch on the front foot, and hit four boundaries off just 12 deliveries before being caught for 17.
The leg-spinner hit James Anderson to Ben Duckett, with England needing just two more wickets to win, and Pakistan 45 more runs.
Ollie Robinson then claimed the final scalp of the match, getting Mohammad Ali caught behind for just six, as they were bowled out for 328.
England’s route to victory had been far from straightforward however, with questions raised over the tourists’ slightly gung-ho batting approach on the morning of day three as they lost five wickets for just 19 runs, including the captain.
Ben Stokes had levelled Brendon McCullum’s record for the number of sixes in Test cricket, but was caught trying to edge past the current head coach, as England looked to pile on runs as quickly as possible with disregard for their wickets.
The result was a total which looked possible for Pakistan to chase, especially with two days of cricket still to be played, and although England managed to snatch victory, it was not as comfortable as it could have been had they had a bigger run margin.
