Pakistan's Noman Ali celebrates after dismissing England's Jack Leach in the Multan Test.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Multan, Pakistan: Bold selection calls and a spin-friendly surface in Multan helped Pakistan end their winless home run with a series-levelling victory in the second Test against England on Friday.
Pakistan's victory by 152 runs in a little over three days is their first at home since they beat South Africa in Rawalpindi in February 2021.
Their first win under Shan Masood's captaincy also lifted some of the gloom that had descended on a team smarting from a 2-0 whitewash at home against Bangladesh.
It would not have been possible but for the bold calls Pakistan selectors took after England inflicted an innings defeat on them in the series opener also in Multan.
Following the shellacking, Pakistan took the drastic step of dropping batter Babar Azam and pacers Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi, who have been off-colour in recent times.
Much to their relief, the move paid off.
Replacing Babar, Kamran Ghulam impressed immediately smashing a terrific hundred in the first innings of his debut Test.
"It's never easy when you're replacing one of the best batters in the world," Shan said of Kamran, who was trolled on social media after his selection.
"I read some things that were horrid, even before he played his first Test match. I can't even imagine the pressure that someone can be under.
"But we were all behind him and I think from the get-go, he seemed like he belonged."
Pakistan's ploy to go with a spin-heavy attack, with Aamer Jamal the lone seam option, also paid dividends on a turning track at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
Terrific duo
Off-spinner Sajid Khan and left-arm spinner Noman Ali wreaked havoc sharing all 20 England wickets in a terrific display of spin bowling on an obliging surface.
They bowled so well that Shan did not use a third bowler in England's second innings that lasted 33.3 overs.
Pakistan's lower-order batters also produced a string of priceless cameos in the low-scoring contest to put themselves in a strong position.
England spinners Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir were among the wickets but their batters looked ill at ease against the turning ball.
While chasing 297 on a worn-out wicket was always going to be challenging, England lost eight wickets in Friday's morning session to be bundled out for a paltry 144.
They were left to rue two dropped catches early in Salman Agha's knock, which allowed the batter to add valuable lower order runs with the Pakistan tailenders.
It was not all doom and gloom for Ben Stokes though and the England captain admired his pacers Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts operated on a track that offered little to them.
"In conditions like this, the spinners will get spoken about a lot but I thought the way that Matthew Potts and Brydon Carse just kept charging in, spell after spell, ball after ball, and created so much atmosphere... that's what you want," Stokes said.
"There's a lot that we look at in terms of attitude, and Brydon and Matthew Potts this week certainly showed that..."