Remarkable bowling spells by the ever so young James Anderson (24-12-36-4) and Ollie Robinson (22-6-50-4), particularly during the final session of the opening Test match at Rawalpindi, has helped England register only their third Test victory against Pakistan in Pakistan, by 74 runs.
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On a pitch where England made a record-shattering 657 in the first innings, to which Pakistan piled on 579 in reply, there was room for only a draw, or that is what Test match viewing over the years has told the followers of this sport.
But, England were still operating with the ‘Bazball’ approach, and after making some quick fire 264 runs in the second innings for the loss of 7 wickets, decided to bravely declare the innings at the Tea break on ‘Day 4’, to hand Pakistan a fairly achievable target of 343 runs with four sessions to play, and the pitch still a graveyard for the bowlers.
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However, Stokes’ bowlers responded and how, as they not only scalped ten opposition wickets in this duration, but also gave a statement of sorts to the entire Cricketing fraternity that they truly are the next big force in World Cricket at the moment, and are here to dominate across formats.
Ben Stokes commends fellow England players
Post the victory, skipper Ben Stokes reiterated that playing for a Draw is just not their thing while stating that the only way England could have won the game was by enticing the Pakistani batters to go for the win with an approachable target at sight.
Later during an interaction with Sky Sports, Stokes made sure to commend the enthusiasm and heart his fellow team members played with all of the five days, with special mention to the likes of debutant Will Jacks and wicket-keeper batter Ollie Pope, who scalped a six-wicket haul and a century respectively during the first innings.
“Some key individual performances, like Jacks and Pope. I think what we had to deal with coming into this match makes it even better. We have got some broken bodies after that. It’s amazing to see the amount of enthusiasm and heart the lads showed,” exclaimed Stokes.
Both sides will now take on each other during the second Test of the series starting December 9 in Multan.
