Pakistan's fate in the Multan Test was written on Thursday. Victory for England was just four wickets away. On the fourth day of the Test, where only the first innings was completed, the English won the Test with more than two sessions of the fifth day in hand. The visiting team started the series by winning the innings and 47 runs.
Pakistan
The nightmare of Rawalpindi two years ago returned to Multan this time. worse. England was also the opponent of Seva. In 2022, Pakistan lost the first Test of the series despite scoring 579 runs in their first innings against the English at home. In the gap of two years, again in the first match of the Test series against England, the host team could not save the match despite scoring more than 500 runs.
Pakistan became the first team in the 147-year history of Test cricket to score more than 500 runs but lost by an innings. However, losing a match after scoring at least 500 runs in the first innings of a Test is nothing new for Pakistan. They are at the top of the list after losing 5 matches with such a big score. The failure rate of the country in Test cricket is getting heavier day by day. A 3-0 drubbing by Australia followed a whitewash in the two-match series at home against Bangladesh. This time the series started with a loss against England. Shan Masood's team lost six Tests in a row with this.
Pakistan started the fifth day's play with 152 runs for 6 wickets. The hosts could not advance very far from there. To save the match, he had to stay on the wicket for three whole sessions. However, Shan Masud's team could not survive even one session.
Agha Salman, who finished the day unbeaten on 41 runs, has seen his fifty today. He batted several overs in the morning. He was accompanied by Amer Jamal. Both of them crossed the century in the seventh wicket partnership. Their pairing gave some hope to the Pakistani fans. But when Salman returned with 55 runs, the pair broke.
After that, Shaheen Afridi and Nasim Shah returned quickly. Abrar Ahmed could not bat due to illness. So Pakistan's innings ended after 9 wickets. Amer Jamal was unbeaten on 55 off 104 balls.
Pakistan got a huge capital of 556 runs with three centuries in their first innings in the batting paradise Multan. Captain Shan Masood may have raised a sign of satisfaction with such a run of his own. But who could have thought that Pakistan's more than five hundred runs will be collected in front of England!
England declared their innings with a world-record partnership of Joe Root and Harry Brooke and two mediocre innings by Jack Crowley and Ben Duckett. Brooke's first career triple century, Root's sixth double century. Like Brook's 317 runs, Root's innings of 262 runs is also a career best. In the brilliant innings of the two, the team's lead stood at 267 runs!
On the fourth day of the Test on Thursday, Pakistan's batting order fell on their faces when they came out to bat in their second innings after trailing by 267 runs. The hosts lost 6 top-order batsmen before the team's century. None of the top order could play a big innings.
Saim Ayyub and Saud Shakeel could not increase the innings even after settling on the wicket. And veterans like Babar Azam-Mohammed Rizwan were completely unsuccessful.
