A series that started with England breaking records ended with England simply broken. Where they needed to fight they faltered, where the situation demanded strength they surrendered as Pakistan raced to a nine-wicket win and 2-1 series success in Rawalpindi.
A morning session billed as a chance for them to hunker down and battle for the game and their reputations became an abject procession, first of departing batters as England limped to the dismal total of 112, and then of boundaries as Pakistan frolicked to their derisory target of 36 in three overs and one ball.
England were 53 behind at the start of play with three wickets already fallen, but also with two batters at the crease who had shared a partnership of 454 just two games ago, albeit on a very different surface and in a very different world. This time they just about managed to get 10% of that total, and for the tourists that was as good as it got. Once Harry Brook was dismissed the innings completely fell apart; England managed to add only 88 to their overnight score, their last seven wickets falling for just 49.
They did manage to take one Pakistan wicket, but that only allowed Shan Masood to emerge for a cameo that was dismissive to the point of contempt. Coming out with 22 still required he hit his first four balls for four, his fifth for a single and his sixth for six. In six balls, he scored 70% of the boundaries England managed in the 224 that comprised their second innings.
For about half an hour at the start of the day the sun shone, the birds sang, and Brook and Root looked like they were in control. It says a lot about England’s innings that this period, in which they scored 42 largely – if not completely – untroubled runs was by a massive margin their finest.
There was one half-chance, when Sajid Khan found Brook’s edge and the ball flew low to short leg, giving Abdullah Shafique just enough time to get his fingertips to it. There were also some fine shots, and just as importantly a sense that the batters were approaching the occasion with the kind of careful watchfulness the situation required. But when things started to go wrong, they went very wrong indeed.
Noman Ali made the breakthrough, Brook undone as he had been in the first innings by a bit of extra pace. The ball did not turn, and the batter had no space to execute his attempted cut as it clipped high on the bat, possible touching only his thumb, on its way into the keeper’s gloves. England had scored 66 runs and still trailed by 11.
There was still a chance for the tourists as long as Ben Stokes was in the middle, which as it turned out was not for long. His dismissal was bizarre, bordering on the inexplicable, offering no shot to a ball that turned slightly into him and struck him on the upper thigh. The captain’s decision was one of a player with a lot on his mind, or of one who had only just been woken up. He turned to Root, seeking encouragement for a review, but there was none. Stokes had scored three, and England trailed by seven.
Jamie Smith had made 89 in the first innings, runs that felt crucial at the time and showed what he was capable of even under pressure, on a turning surface, against high-quality spinners with the wind in their sails. He lasted 16 balls here before he ran down the track to Sajid, playing an agricultural hoik across the line to a ball that spun quite sharply, beating him on the inside on its way into the stumps. Smith had scored three, and England trailed by two.
By this time, England’s ambitions had shifted from setting Pakistan a testing target to simply making them bat again. Root stayed for long enough to at least guarantee that before he was beaten by an excellent delivery from Noman which took the edge, well caught by Mohammad Rizwan behind the stumps. He had scored a measured 33: not exactly overwhelming, but it says everything about England’s innings that his contribution can accurately be described as outstanding – Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Stokes and Smith had between them contributed just 21.
It is harsh to say the innings petered out from there, given that it had barely petered in. Sajid turned the ball inside Gus Atkinson’s bat and bowled him, then did similar to Rehan Ahmed, who tried to paddle it into the leg side but missed and saw the bails light up. Noman flighted one slow, short and wide, daring Jack Leach to come out of his crease to reach it. He did come out of his crease, he did not reach it, and Rizwan did the rest.
