E-Paper
Pakistan crush England by 10 wickets to level series
LONDON: Pakistan celebrated their independence day with a 10-wicket victory over England in the fourth Test to draw the four-match series 2-2 on Sunday.
LONDON: Pakistan celebrated their independence day with a 10-wicket victory over England in the fourth Test to draw the four-match series 2-2 on Sunday.
Jonny Bairstow fought a lone battle and scored 81 with England who were dismissed for 253 in their second innings – a lead of just 39 runs – as leg-spinner Yasir Shah (5-71) grabbed his second five-wicket haul in the series on the fourth day.
Pakistan openers Azhar Ali (30*) and Sami Aslam (12*) reached 42-0 for an emphatic win just after tea – ending the match with a six – and captain Misbah-ul-Haq led his players on a victory lap at the Oval, carrying the national flag.
“It’s really tough to recover from two heavy defeats (in the second and third tests) but it shows the character of the team,” Misbah said. “It’s really a fabulous victory, especially to win a test match on our independence day.”
Man-of-the-match Younis Khan returned to form and scored a double century in a strong Pakistan first-innings 542 – a lead of 214 – after England was dismissed for 328.
Pakistan won the first Test at Lord’s by 75 runs before England came back hard with a 330-run victory at Manchester and a 141run win at Birmingham.
However, Pakistan’s batting finally came good at the Oval to level the series and retain its No. 3 spot in Test rankings, one place above England.
“We had an opportunity to win the series 3-1 but Pakistan bounced back well from Edgbaston and they deserved to win this Test match,” England captain Alastair Cook said. “It’s a fair result in the end.”
Set 40 to win, Pakistan’s openers reached the required target off 13.1 overs as Azhar lofted offspinner Ali for a straight six in one of the country’s most memorable victories against England.
