England captain Ben Stokes’ boldness pays off as side beat Pakistan on final day of Rawalpindi Test | Cricket News

Ben Stokes was rewarded for his bold declaration and attacking fields as England completed a famous 74-run victory over Pakistan in a thrilling final session of the first Test in Rawalpindi.

Jack Leach trapped Naseem Shah (6) lbw in the fading light as Pakistan were dismissed for 268 and Stokes became just the third England captain, after Ted Dexter in 1961 and Nasser Hussain in 2000, to win a Test match in Pakistan.

Stokes had declared at tea on day four, dangling the carrot for Pakistan by giving them four sessions to score 343 and hoping that chance of a win would embolden the hosts and hand England a better chance of prising the 10 wickets they required.

Pakistan were favourites at tea on day five, having turned their overnight 80-2 into 257-5 and needing just a further 86 runs to take a 1-0 lead ahead of Friday’s second Test in Multan.

But Ollie Robinson cracked the game open for England by removing set batters Agha Salman (30) and Azhar Ali (40) – snapping a stand of 61 for the sixth wicket from 198-5 – from reverse-swinging deliveries with the old ball, which Stokes had persevered with despite the new one being available.

Wicketkeeper Ollie Pope then took a stunning catch down the leg-side off James Anderson to remove Zahid Mahmood (1), before Anderson pinned Haris Rauf (0) lbw two deliveries later in a double-wicket maiden to leave Pakistan nine down and England on the brink.

Naseem and Mohammad Ali (0) frustrated England, with Naseem edging Stokes between Pope and slip fielder Joe Root, but Leach finally had the former pinned lbw with the new ball as England recorded an astonishing triumph on the flattest of surfaces.

Friday 9th December 4:30am

England’s success was clinched by Leach but manufactured by Stokes, who deserves enormous credit for risking defeat in order to push for victory and provide an entertaining finale, with his positive leadership and his side’s blistering batting throughout the Test ensuring both teams had a shot at glory on the final day.

England took two wickets on the fourth evening – Abdullah Shafique (6) and Babar Azam (4) out to bouncers from Robinson and Stokes respectively – and would have had a third had substitute fielder Keaton Jennings been able to snaffle Saud Shakeel (76) at short leg on 22 off the bowling of left-arm spinner Leach.

Shakeel made the most of the reprieve by scoring a fifty on Test debut, sharing a fourth-wicket stand of 87 with Rizwan from 89-3 after Anderson had Imam-ul-Haq (48) caught down the leg-side by Pope during a first hour which brought only 13 runs.

Pakistan were 93-3 at drinks, with Rizwan scoreless from 23 deliveries, after Anderson and Robinson had bowled frugally but the tempo changed once spin was introduced, starting when Rizwan cracked Will Jacks for two leg-side fours in the over after the break.

Rizwan continued to target Jacks, Leach and Joe Root – striking two sixes amid a pre-lunch boundary flurry – while Shakeel began to open up, too, and clinched his fifty from 104 balls with a four off Leach.

Stokes was always in the game as captain, geeing up his team and persisting with ultra-aggressive fields, but was not seen with the ball until immediately after lunch as Pakistan resumed on 169-3, needing a further 174 runs for victory.

It was fellow seamer Anderson who made the breakthrough, forcing Rizwan to snick a ball in the channel outside off stump through to Pope, and England were bouncing when Jennings belatedly atoned for shelling Shakeel on Sunday night by pouching him superbly at short cover on Monday afternoon, off the bowling of Robinson.

Azhar and Salman frustrated England as Stokes, Robinson and Anderson found some reverse swing – Stokes getting through a bone-jarring 11-over spell – with both players beaten on their outside edge and seeing in-duckers target their pads and stumps.

It was the spin of Leach that came close to engineering another wicket but ball-tracking said his delivery to Salman would have bounced over the stumps, while when Pope dropped Azhar down the leg-side off Robinson in the final over before tea, the tourists’ heads could have dropped.

Stokes was having none of it, chatting to his team on the field before they headed in for the break to remind them they could still force a positive result and was then rewarded for opting not to bring the fresh Kookaburra in to play, as well as his use of DRS, as Robinson had Salman trapped leg before on review.

Robinson then forced Azhar to whip to Root at leg slip in his next over, before the tail were, ultimately, no match for England as the tourists marked their first Test in Pakistan since 2005 with victory – one which Stokes instigated as he stuck true to his word about making the longest format a must-watch spectacle.

What’s next?

The second Test takes place in Multan from Friday (build-up starts at 4.30am on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event ahead of the first ball at 5am) with Pakistan looking to level up the series ahead of the final fixture in Karachi from December 17, which is also live on Sky Sports.