ENG VS PAK 1st Test Match Highlights
ENG VS PAK 1st Test Match Highlights: The Rawalpindi Test between England and Pakistan is concluded and it is the visitors who have emerged victorious! The English Team beats the home side by 74 runs in the first of the 3 Tests series.
This test just showed us the sheer power of long-format entertainment. In a lifeless pitch like that of Rawalpindi, we saw 5 days of tug and war. England was always on the side with the larger end of the rope, and even when the grip was loose, they didn’t lose HOPE! They struck at the right time, forcing the home team towards the defeating end.
ENG VS PAK 1st Test : How it happened?
ENG VS PAK 1st Innings England: England’s 1st Innings Firework
We saw absolute Bazball from the England side in the first innings of the match. It was earlier understood that it is just the team’s skills but later it was unfolded that the pitch is just ridiculous. 4 of the English batters went on to hit centuries for the team. Crawley, Duckett, Pope, and Brook all converted their 50s to hundreds. Stokes added a splendid 41 off 18 to power the team to a massive 657 runs in just 4 sessions. They even broke the record for scoring the most runs in 75 overs in test cricket.
ENG vs PAK 1st Test 1st Innings Pakistan: Pakistan’s Great Fightback
Pakistan did not shy behind from giving a befitting reply to the visitors. The home team managed to hit back with a 225-run opening stand much to the frustration of the English team. There were more centuries. Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, and Babar Azam finished their 100s. There were good contributions even from the lower order and tailender to make the team reach 579 as 1st innings score. Even after this, England had a 78 runs lead. Phew!
ENG vs PAK 1st Test 2nd Innings England: Another Bazball from England
England knew to force a result out of this flat pitch, they had to do something immaculately sensational. The team went nuts again. They added 264 runs in 36 overs at the pace of 7.36 per over. No one could believe it was a test match. No one could believe it was the same England side that was thrashed for being so redundantly conventional with their approach. Batters came, hit at a 100+ strike rate, and did not mind losing their wicket. It was quite clear, England desperately wanted a result from this match. Crawley hit another 50 while Root and Brook missed their 100s. Stokes was quite clear in his wording and the team followed rightly. Soon, England DECLARED with a lead of just 342 and 4 sessions to go!
ENG vs PAK 1st Test 2nd Innings Pakistan: England Bowlers Take it Home
Pakistan came in to bat at Tea of Day 4. They really should not have lost wickets much like the earlier innings. But they did! They were 80 for 2 on the day’s end. Even on next day, they lost wickets at regular intervals. Soon, Pakistan was 198 for 5 shifting the game towards England. Rizwan was hanging his hopes for the Green Team though. He too was dismissed at 48. Agha Salmaan tried to stick around till the end Robinson struck at the right time to dismiss him. After that, the ball was in England’s court. They just had to take the last 3 wickets to win the match and they did it pretty soon!
ENG vs PAK 1st Test : Fresh Air of Bowler’s Game
Even after Rawalpindi being such a flat, placid, pitch that had nothing to do for the bowlers, it was the captaincy and bowling unit that drew us the results in this game. Although it was a flop game for many Pakistani debutant bowlers but for England it was a great experience. They probably got their team one of the great away wins! In Pakistan’s first innings, Will Jacks went on to take 6 wickets. In the second, Robinson and Anderson duo struck. The man of the match was given to Ollie Robinson for his game-changing spell in the last innings. He took 4 wickets in his 22 overs, getting England all the much-needed breakthroughs. Even after batters scored a more than 1750 runs in 5 days, it was the wickets that were crucial and Robinson took them.
ENG VS PAK 1st Test: Match Analysis
Absolute fantastic coming out of England in the first test. Out of pure drive, they pushed a result even on the most placid of pitches. With their declaration, they were willing to take a loss in order to get 10 wickets in time. And there was hardly any time left on the clock when the last wicket fell. What tragedy unfold in Rawalpindi, what joy for England and Stokes, who deserves a lot of praise, and what grief for the sizable Pakistani crowd who attended.
In the post-match presentation, Ben Stokes made it quite clear that this English team has no interest in playing for the draw. He ensured that these are not just words. We saw a lot of courage from the team that had a no-win streak of 12 matches last year, around the same time. This change in approach is fresh air for those who still have an interest in watching Test cricket. And for those who already shifted to T20s to “save time” we only feel sorry for them!
