This, in effect, was one of those dramatic turnarounds. Pakistan came from behind to defeat England in the second Test in Multan, breaking an 11-Test winless streak at home and claiming their first Test victory in 15 months.
This victory not only marks a massive milestone in the team’s journey but also snaps an extended 44-month drought without a Test win at home, bringing a wave of relief and celebration to the entire nation of cricket lovers.
The Pakistan spinners, Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, dominated the match as they gave a lesson on spin bowling. Noman shone by bagging 11 wickets in this match, including a phenomenal 8 for 46 in the second innings. With that, he became the first Pakistani spinner to take eight wickets in the fourth innings of a Test match.
The previous best fourth-innings figures by a Pakistani spinner were 7 for 56 Mushtaq Ahmed against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1995. The all-time best for a Pakistani in a fourth innings still is Sarfraz Nawaz’s 9 for 86 against Australia in Melbourne in 1979.
Sajid, too, contributed massively with 9 wickets in the match. The combination of both is a historical event as it is just the seventh time in Test history that two bowlers have taken all 20 wickets of the opposition. The last time Pakistani bowlers performed this feat was in 1956 when the legendary pair of Fazal Mahmood and Khan Mohammad took all wickets against Australia. This record underlines how important their performance is, as the performances in question are truly rare and remarkable in cricket annals.
