Top-notch batting performances from Harry Brook and Joe Root, followed by Jack Leach’s memorable spell helped England defeat Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in the first Test in Multan. Opting to bat first, Pakistan had an amazing outing as the hosts scored 556 runs. England gave even a better show as they declared their innings at a whopping total of 823/7.
Harry Brook scored a triple ton while Joe Root scored 262. Later, England restricted Pakistan at 220 and won the match by an innings and 47 runs. For England, Jack Leach scalped three and four wickets. This was also the first time in the history of Test cricket that a team lost by an innings after scoring 500 plus runs.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : The last Test played here was Pakistan v England, and Abrar got a 11-fer. But it’s a different look to the pitch this time. There’s a lot of grass, plenty of grass. But if you have a closer look, it’s still quite dry. That means the grass is there to help the pitch remain intact. There might be seam, swing up front. But I reckon spinners will have a role to play.
Pakistan skipper Shan Masood won the toss and chose to bat on the pitch conducive for batting. England skipper Ollie Pope bowling first handed debut to Brydon Carse in red ball cricket.
Day 1 : Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafique pile on the runs on Day 1 in Multan
Centuries by Shan Masood (151) and Abdullah Shafique (102) took Pakistan to 298 for 3 on Day 1 of the first Test in Multan. The batting duo registered a 253-run partnership for the second wicket, the second highest overall partnership at the ground. On a flat deck, the assistance for the England bowlers lasted for only the first hour of the day’s play as the batters took full toll of the favorable conditions.
It was Masood’s first Test hundred since he took over as captain of Pakistan. Masood and Shafique scored briskly at 4.5 runs per over, the third highest run rate for a 200-plus partnership for Pakistan.
Shafique came out to bat on 94 after the Tea break and smashed a six down the ground off left-arm spinner Jack Leach to get to his three-figure milestone. Masood, who scored his 100 at almost a run-a-ball, continued his attacking intent against Brydon Carse and Leach, clinching boundaries. Masood then brought up his 150 with a pull to the deep on the onside.
The sole wicket-taker until the Lunch break, Gus Atkinson, finally picked up Shafique who offered a simple catch to the cover-point fielder. Leach struck few overs later, taking a sharp low-catch of Masood off his own bowling as England suddenly had two quick wickets and a glimmer of hope.
Incoming batter Babar Azam endured a lucky escape as he almost dragged a short delivery off Atkinson onto the stumps. But that glimmer of hope vanished soon after as Saud Shakeel took advantage of the favorable match-up of Leach with three boundaries in an over. The duo continued to find the occasional boundary after the drinks break and comfortably rotated strike to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Once England took the second new ball, Atkinson was greeted by Babar with a four, caressing it through extra-cover. But the former skipper’s wretched Test form continued as he was trapped in front of the stumps by Chris Woakes in the penultimate over of the day, taking a review back with him in the process.
Earlier during the day, Pakistan elected to bat first but were dealt an early blow as Saim Ayub was strangled down the legside off Atkinson. After Masood and Shafique survived a spell of getting beaten and hit on the pads with the former overturning an LBW decision against him, they took advantage of the conditions as both scored half-centuries by the Lunch interval. Pakistan continued to pile on the runs in a faultless second session as they scored 101 runs for the loss of no wickets which saw their skipper bring up his century.
Day 2: Salman Ali Agha’s ton lifts Pakistan before England’s strong reply on Day 2
Pakistan piled on the runs thanks to a century by Salman Ali Agha and a half-century by Saud Shakeel on Day 2 of the first Test against England in Multan. Their efforts were bolstered by the invaluable contributions of Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi with the bat as Pakistan scored 556 in the first innings. But England too scored at a rapid rate to end the day on 96 for 1 in 20 overs.
Salman brought up his 100 off just 108 balls, to applause all around the stadium, in the final session while adding a valuable partnership with Shaheen. Continuing on from the previous sessions, the duo had managed to comfortably rotate the strike post the Tea break, unperturbed on a pitch that offered nothing for the bowlers. They layed into left-arm spinner Jack Leach scoring two sixes off him. But Afridi, in an attempt to up the ante, with a slog sweep, was castled a few balls later by Leach.
Earlier during the day, Pakistan had approached play more conservatively. Naseem, the night watcher, stayed put in the middle for nearly an hour and a half in the morning as Shakeel picked up the runs. But the fast-bowler finally fell off a glance to fine-leg while Mohammed Rizwan followed soon after with a duck, caught at mid-off.
But Salman had other ideas post Lunch and he took the attack to England, smashing a couple of boundaries in the opening over after the break. He survived an attempt to clear the ropes few overs later, when Chris Woakes’ momentum took him over the boundary ropes after taking the catch. But England struck twice in quick succession soon after as Shakeel was dismissed for 82 and Jamal was trapped leg-before off Carse.
The dismissal of Afridi offered Pakistan a chance of declaration but they opted against it, having lost from a similar position to Bangladesh only recently. No. 11 batter Abrar Ahmed survived two chances in two overs. First, ‘keeper Jamie Smith missed a routine stumping chance while Gus Atkinson dropped him at mid-wicket.
But Joe Root had his man an over later, as Abrar steered a quick short-ball to Ben Duckett at slip. In an attempt to take the catch, the ball hit Duckett on the top of his thumb immediately signaling to the dressing room that he was in pain.
As a result, there was a rejig in England’s batting order as Zak Crawley and skipper Ollie Pope walked out to bat. England, under the Bazball-era bat on this track, promised a lot and they didn’t as Crawley drove Afridi for four off the very first over. Pope nailed a pull off Naseem in the next over but Aamer Jamal took a one-handed stunner at mid-wicket to dismiss Pope for a duck.
The wicket made no difference to England’s intentions and they kept the scoreboard ticking with ones, twos and regular boundaries. They scored 11 runs off Abrar’s first over including two boundaries despite the spinner taking the edge of Crawley which was fell well wide of slip. The same thing happened in Abrar’s next over, this time off Root and the batters scampered for three as Root brought up 1000 Test runs in 2024.
Crawley continued to attack Abrar hitting him for two more boundaries in the 15th over. He repeated the feat again in the 18th over, this time off Naseem, as he brought up his 50 in the process. This was sandwiched by Joe Root almost chopping onto the stumps, off a ball which kept low by Afridi before stumps.
Day 3 : Joe Root and Harry Brook lead England’s charge in a batting fest on Day 3
Joe Root got his 35th Test ton and became England’s all-time leading run-getter in Test cricket on yet another day filled with runs in Multan. He was aided in that pursuit by Harry Brook (141*) and Ben Duckett (84) in England’s strong reply to Pakistan’s 556. They ended the third day, trailing only by 64.
Harry Brook got his fourth Test ton in as many Tests in Pakistan in the final session to join the milestones party set by Root through the course of the day. The duo put Pakistan’s attack to the sword over the final two sessions with 141 in the last being the most prolific period of batting.
Their unbeaten stand worth 243, the highest for any wicket for England in Pakistan, proved to be an unshakeable roadblock for Pakistan’s bowlers who toiled hard but to no avail. Harry Brook had a slice of luck on 75 when he nearly chopped on off Aamer Jamal but without the bails being dislodged. Root had an LBW review overturned in the final session but such shouts were few and far between on a day dominated by the bat.
Just before the second new ball was taken in the final session, Harry Brook brought up his ton – his sixth in Tests – of just 118 balls even as Root neared his 150. With that milestone crossed, Root began to go through a period of caution even as Harry Brook raced away against the newer ball which didn’t make much of a difference for the bowlers’ plight. It was a continuation of what had transpired over the previous sessions.
The day had kickstarted with Zak Crawley sending an early statement, continuing from where he had left as he drove Shaheen Afridi through the covers. But Pakistan’s leading quick eventually got his man as the batter hit one straight at midwicket to depart for a well-made 85. Duckett then walked out to bat, having not opened the innings the previous day due to a thumb injury. He showed no signs of discomfort and got going straightaway to put Pakistan on the backfoot.
The left-hander hit Abrar Ahmed for two back-to-back boundaries and then targeted him again for three boundaries in an over to race to 34 off just 26. Root then found the boundary off Naseem Shah and eventually helped himself to a half-century just before the drinks break. Duckett too brought up his landmark shortly after to enhance his record against Pakistan further. The home side kept ringing in the changes but to no avail as England kept the bowling attack at bay.
The Pakistani pacers did find some reverse swing at one point and there were signs of encouragement too when Aamer Jamal got one to hit Root on the pads. But ball-tracking confirmed that it would have anyway missed the stumps. In the same over, Root played a delightful drive that took him past Cook’s tally which has now ensured that there are only four more players in the history of the game ahead of him in the overall list.
Root continued in the afternoon from where he had left before lunch as he fetched a boundary in the opening over of the session. However, Pakistan found success quite early as the dangerous Duckett was sent back, 16 short of his ton. His wicket didn’t bring much relief though for Pakistan as Harry Brook signaled his intentions with a boundary off just the second ball he had faced.
Harry Brook went on the offensive and collected boundaries to race to 21 off just 15. The proceedings were very similar to that of the morning session where the new batter, after an early wicket, dominated proceedings straightaway. Shaheen’s introduction didn’t help matters either as Harry Brook pummelled him for three boundaries before Root added one more off the left-arm pacer to inch closer to his century.
While Harry Brook brought up his fifty off just 49 balls, Root reached his big landmark in the following over. With that 35th ton, the former England skipper is now behind only five batters in that prestigious list. Pakistan’s attempts to break the stand proved to be futile as the two batters comfortably batted to see England through the third day.
Day 4 : Pakistan on the ropes after Harry Brook 317, Joe Root 262
Twenty years after Virender Sehwag serenaded the Multan Stadium with a glorious triple hundred, the ground’s renovated stands became the backdrop of a stunning 317 from Harry Brook, who became England’s sixth triple centurion in Test cricket. In the company of Joe Root, who got to a sixth Test match double enroute a career-best 262, the visitors posted the fourth-highest total of 823 for 7.
It left Pakistan buried under a mountain of a deficit to overcome in the third innings despite having scored 556 themselves in the first dig. The scoreboard pressure combined with England’s propensity to extract a little more uncertainty from a fourth-day pitch proved too much for Pakistan to handle as they slipped tamely to 152 for 6 and faced a sixth Test defeat on the bounce.
By the time Ollie Pope declared the innings deep into the second session of play on the fourth day, Harry Brook and Root had effected enough mental disintegration on their hosts. That England did so while scoring at 5.48 runs to the over meant they roared ahead without wasting too much time in the game.
The visitors started the day 64 behind. By Lunch, they were ahead by 102 and despite batting just one more over than Pakistan had in the first innings, England scored an additional 267 runs before their captain realised that they had enough runs and time in the bank to force a result.
Several batting records fell by the wayside during this charge and significant column inches will be dedicated towards them, today and in the days to come. At the centre of it all was the 454-run partnership between Root and Harry Brook – the fourth-highest in the history of the format and the highest ever against Pakistan.
The hosts had an opportunity early in the morning to avoid that ignominy and put a lid on the stand at 258. But Babar Azam shelled a straightforward chance at mid-wicket. Root was on 186 then and after putting away the next ball for one of his 17 boundaries, he eased himself to a double ton – leaving him just one behind the England record of seven doubles held by Wally Hammond.
Root, who set major personal milestones yesterday also passed his previous best of 254 before his 375-ball knock was finally ended by Agha Salman with a ball that kept low and struck the England star on the pads. England had 703 on the board and were ahead by 147 at that point.
The 26-year-old Harry Brook’s progress from his overnight score of 144 was just as serene. He got to his maiden first-class double-hundred by leisurely opening his bat face to guide Naseem Shah to the fielder in the deep. That single came off the 245th delivery he faced in the innings. His third hundred took just 65 more balls as England moved into declaration batting. In addition to the 29 fours he hit, Harry Brook also cleared the ropes three times.
One of those sixes – a charge and smash over extra cover against Naseem Shah – took Harry Brook into the 290s. There were no nerves and the spread-out field ensured there wasn’t much to fear. He got to the triple hundred with a backfoot club straight down the ground off part-timer Saim Ayub. The feat was achieved off the 310th ball making Harry Brook the second-fastest to the landmark behind only Virender Sehwag’s efforts in Chennai against South Africa.
Not long after Harry Brook fell, Pope declared his team’s innings as closed. It was time for his bowlers to run roughshod over a tired opposition that had six bowlers conceding over a 100 runs, including the lead spinner Abrar Ahmed, who didn’t take the field on Day 4 after being hospitalized with a fever. If they hadn’t had a bad enough day at that point, Pakistan were also a wicket down to the first ball they faced in the second innings.
First-innings centurion Abdullah Shafique attempted a tired drive and was cleaned up by a Chris Woakes delivery that swung away and nipped back. Right after the Tea interval, Gus Atkinson struck twice to dismiss Shan Masood and Babar Azam.
The former lived dangerously and survived a couple of half chances before chipping a ball that appeared to stop on him straight to mid-wicket. Babar’s streak of not getting to 50 then extended to an 18th innings as he nicked a delivery in the channel. Saim Ayub attempted to flay a Brydon Carse delivery and ended up giving a skier for extra-cover to catch, leaving Pakistan teetering at 41 for 4.
That quickly became 59 for 5 as Carse nipped one back into Mohammad Rizwan’s stumps. Saud Shakeel looked to stay positive and struck four boundaries in his 33-ball knock of 29 but he was caught behind off Jack Leach as Pakistan faced the risk of inexplicably losing this Test in four days. Agha Salman and Aamer Jamal managed to survive the last 12 overs and batted positively to put off the inevitable by a day.
Day 5 : Jack Leach bowls England to famous win by an innings and 47 runs
Agha Salman and Aamer Jamal’s half-centuries went in as vain as Pakistan were bundled out for 220 in the second innings, handing England a thumping victory by an innings and 47 runs. It was the first time in Test cricket that a team lost by an innings despite scoring more than 500 runs in the first innings.
On the penultimate day, Pakistan’s top order crumbled in the second essay after the visitors had taken a mammoth lead. Heading into the final day, they still trailed by 115 runs with only four wickets left.
Salman and Jamal kept the English bowlers at bay for nearly an hour in the morning. Salman, who had notched up a century in the first innings, followed it up with a half-century, reaching the mark with a boundary in only the fifth over of the morning, by glancing a delivery down the legside for a boundary. With not much movement on offer, England moved to the short-ball ploy quite early in the day. Jamal was left unsettled by a couple of them, which fell just out of reach of the fielder. One even hit him on the helmet.
The defiance came to an end an hour into the day’s play when Salman was trapped by Jack Leach with a delivery that rushed in and hit him low on his pads. He took a review, but that didn’t save him either.
Jamal, however, continued to keep the English attack at bay and brought up his half-century with a single towards mid on. He continued to enjoy his share of luck, getting dropped by Ollie Pope at square leg soon after and then Pope missing a direct hit while he attempted a quick single. Shaheen Afridi threw his bat around for a bit before miscuing a drive and offering Leach a diving, return catch.
It was mere formality thereafter. With Abrar Ahmad hospitalized, and unavailable to bat, Pakistan’s innings came to an end with the dismissal of Naseem Shah, who stepped out against Leach but was undone by his flatter delivery to get stumped for 6.
Even as Leach bagged all the three wickets to fall on the final day, the foundation of the victory in Multan, was laid by Harry Brook and Joe Root, who helped England to a massive 823 for 7 decl. after having been on the field for more than a day and a half, in response to Pakistan’s first innings total of 556. With their sixth successive loss, Pakistan stretched their winless streak at home to 11 matches.
Resuming on 152 for 6, there was more gutsy resistance from Salman and Jamal. Memories of Salman’s first-innings hundred, when he skipped along close to a run a ball as Pakistan’s total mounted, had been eroded by the match situation but he showed an ability to apply himself in more straitened circumstances, a tickled boundary off Gus Atkinson taking him to fifty for the second time in the match.
At the other end, Jamal found himself in the crosshairs of Brydon Carse’s short-ball attack. A blow to the helmet required a visit from the physio and a concussion test but he continued to front up, putting several bumpers away to the boundary on the way to a second Test fifty. Carse kept coming, with a gloved pull flying over the head of Jamie Smith, before Pope put down what should have been a regulation catch after Jamal top-edged to square leg.
In between, Leach had provided the breakthrough when he beat Salman’s inside edge, the dismissal confirmed on review. Shaheen Afridi was in no mood to hang around, flat-batting his third ball, from Carse, down the ground. But Leach clung on to a sharp return chance and then Naseem Shah walked past one to be stumped, as England closed out one of their most remarkable wins – not just of the Bazball era, but of all time.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Ollie Pope the winning England skipper said : Credit to the bowlers for the way they went about their stuff on Day 1 and majority of Day 2. The fitness they showed, and the same with Brook and Root. The way to win this game was to put a mammoth score on the board. It wasn’t just a hundred, but it was 260 and 315 or whatever. Credit to them, obviously the skills they have and the determination to put the team in a winning position.
It was awesome. Wasn’t necessarily discussed (Pakistan’s poor second innings record). When you bat first and make 550, you think you’re in the driving seat there. But when you come out to bat again, and you’re 260 behind, and the pitch is 3 days older, it’s never an easy thing to do. We had a lot of different wicket-taking opportunities. The odd ball was staying low, the odd ball was reversing and we got the odd ball to spin as well.
It’s never an easy position to be in when you’re 260 behind. Even if you bat as well as you can and make 400 in that last innings, we still would’ve backed ourselves and chased 140 or so. The way the two guys with the big runs played was real credit to them. He obviously got some crucial wickets, set some clever fields and he got batters hitting shots in areas they didn’t want to do. The way Brydon bowled on debut was awesome.
Charged in, showed a lot of heart and never complained once. And Leach. Coming back into the side this week – he’s had some success here before. He’s fit right back into the team. Taken some crucial wickets for us as well. That’s the game. I smoked a pull shot straight to midwicket. Unfortunately I was the one to miss out this week but it’s a team game and what matters is that we’re on the right side.
Shan Masood the losing skipper said : We’ve spoken about the third innings or fourth innings, but at the end of the day it’s a team game. Everything has its advantages and repercussions as a team. When you put up 550 on the board, it’s important to back it up with 10 wickets. That’s something we didn’t do. If we take those 10 wickets and keep England around our score, maybe a bit more, then these 220 runs on the fifth day become challenging.
So that’s the key to work it out as a team – how can the batting and bowling in the first innings contribute to the team and hopefully set the match up. That’s something we’re struggling with. We’re getting into good positions. You ask your batting side to put up a good score in the first innings, and the onus on us now is to set the game up so we can finish it off. 220 runs in the third innings, depending on what kind of lead you have, can also be a good score.
We can learn from England as well. They’ve found a way to get those 20 wickets. Can’t win Test matches without picking up 20 wickets. As a team, yes we have that second innings of batting to improve, but we have to learn to pick up 20 wickets. That’s the challenge as a side going forward. We’re in the middle of the series, we’ve talked about squad mentality and consistency.
Where I’d like the team to improve is – no matter how the pitch is, we have to find a way out. England showed that. We have to give huge credit to them. Test quality cricket is the ultimate format. And in the ultimate format, you have to find out ways to get the opposition out. Sometimes you get conditions in your favour, sometimes you don’t. But the best teams always find a way.
And for us, the learning curve is how can we find ways of scoring runs and picking wickets. It’s a non-negotiable of Test cricket to perform on a regular basis. We love playing the game. We’re obviously hurt by the results, hurt as a nation. But the beauty of the game is it always gives you another chance. Life gives you another chance. So the quick turnaround might be beneficial for us and we’re looking forward to it.
I never try and shy away from responsibility. What hurts is that we’re not getting the results that Pakistan cricket deserves. We’re all trying hard, we’re going to give it our all. And we are going to try and turn it around. We take the responsibility upon our shoulders. We have to get it right as a squad and as a cricket playing nation.
Harry Brook Player of the Match for his 317 runs said : Enjoyed it a lot. It was tough out there in the heat. We were just batting for as long as possible to be honest. We had a chat at lunch time, knew we were going to be batting out there for a little period after lunch. Just have to try and enjoy batting, and build a partnership, and keep trying to rotate strike – put the bowlers under pressure.
Was taking as much fluid onboard as possible. And the energy gels, and eating as well. It was tough but that was a good surface to cash in on. Hopefully many more to come.
The pressure on the hosts is only going to mount after this result. The squad they announced was only for the first Test, and it’ll be interesting to see what they do for the next two matches. Their main bowlers are down on pace, while Babar is having a horrendous run as he’s gone without a fifty in 18 innings. Abrar, the lone spinner, also went wicketless and is now unwell.
The only time that the pitch offered something was when the ball was hard and new, and they made the most of that phase, reducing Pakistan to 82/6 as the likes of Carse and Atkinson hit the pitch hard and extracted a bit of variable movement from the cracks.
Whatever play we had this morning only reinforced how difficult it was for the bowlers once the ball got softer. Pakistan would be kicking themselves for some of the shots they played yesterday. If only they had made a better fist of it in the first 20-25 overs, the draw would still have been there for the taking.
From the unthinkable to the inevitable. Pakistan became the first team in Test history to lose by an innings having scored 500 in their first attempt, as England wrapped up victory inside the morning session on day five at Multan. Jack Leach finished with four wickets, a century stand between Salman Agha and Aamer Jamal not enough to save Pakistan from an unwanted record.
Their fate had been effectively sealed when they slumped to 82 for 6 in blameless conditions on the fourth afternoon, any sense of fight crushed beneath the weight of England’s 823 for 7 declared. Salman and Jamal did their best to salvage some pride, putting on 109 for the seventh wicket – but Pakistan were so far adrift, despite posting an imposing 556 in the first innings, that it was not enough to make England’s batters put on their pads again.
Defeat extended a horror run for Pakistan under the captaincy of Shan Masood to six in a row, and twisted the knife into an abysmal home record that has seen them winless since February 2021.
With Pakistan a man down in the absence of the hospitalized Abrar Ahmed, England only had to remain patient and wait for an opening. Leach provided it with his fourth ball, after Ollie Pope had opted to bowl pace for much of the first hour, Salman trapped lbw by one that would have gone on to hit leg stump. Two wickets in the space of four balls then completed the victory, only England’s second by an innings in Asia.
It was set up by a record-breaking performance with the bat, Harry Brook’s triple-hundred and 262 from Joe Root helping England to post the fourth-highest total in Tests. And while the pitch continued to play pretty well even into the fifth day, with just the occasional assistance from the widening cracks, Pakistan’s initial collapse in the face of a 267-run deficit left the outcome a formality.
It’s the first time in Test history that a team has lost by an innings after scoring 500-plus in the first innings. Pakistan’s horror run in Test cricket continues. It’s their sixth consecutive loss in the format, and their seventh loss at home in the last 9 Tests. What a performance from England to force a result on a pitch that didn’t offer much to the bowlers at all.
After losing the toss and being on the field for more than one and a half days, they broke all kinds of records by smashing an enormous 823 on the board led by a triple hundred from Harry Brook and a career-highest 262 from Joe Root. The pace at which they scored opened the possibility of a result, and full credit to their bowlers for making it count.
We saw India do something mind-boggling in Kanpur a few days ago, forcing a result in two days. England had a lot more time than that, but the pitch was very unresponsive and they’ve done remarkably well to conjure up a win. Shows what a crazy era we live in with two results like these in a matter of days. Pakistan, meanwhile, are in such a poor state. Not sure if their pitches are more dead or their performances. Will take one heck of a turnaround to bounce back from here. The second test starts on Tuesday with England leading 1-0 in the series.