Pakistan beat England at Lord’s, take 1-0 lead
LONDON: Pakistan completed a convincing nine-wicket victory over England to win the first Test at Lord’s with more than a day to spare on Sunday.
Set just 64 for victory on the fourth morning, Pakistan finished on 66 for one before lunch to go 1-0 up in this two-match series ahead of next week’s second Test at Headingley.
Imam-ul-haq was 18 not out and Haris Sohail 39 not out.
England were undone by two top-order batting collapses, slumping to 184 all out after winning the toss in their first innings and declining to 160 for six in their second before fifties from Jos Buttler and Test debutant Dominic Bess prevented an innings defeat.
This was England’s seventh loss in 10 Tests as their first match under new national selector Ed Smith ended in a resounding reverse.
What made this loss -- just England’s third defeat in a home Test starting in May -- all the more galling for Joe Root’s side was that they were outplayed in classic English conditions by a youthful Pakistan side, who displayed far greater discipline with both bat and ball.
England, resuming Sunday on 235 for six in their second innings, lost their last four wickets for just seven runs in 18 balls to be bowled out for 242.
That they had not already lost
We have a very inexperienced team but we are very confident. Our bowlers did a great job. SARFRAZ AHMED, Pakistan captain
this match by an innings was down to a century stand between the recalled Jos Buttler and Test debutant Dominic Bess that allowed England to resume Sunday on 235 for six, a lead of 56 runs. Buttler was then 66 not out and Bess 55 not out.
But eight balls into Sunday’s play and having added only one more run, Buttler was lbw to Mohammad Abbas for 67.
England’s were now 236 for seven and that soon became 241 for eight, after the tourists took the new ball, when Mark Wood edged Mohammad Amir to Pakistan captain and wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed.
Stuart Broad made his Testbest 169 against Pakistan at Lord’s in 2010 -- a match that became known for a spot-fixing ‘sting’ that saw three Pakistan players, including Amir, jailed by an English court and given five-year bans by the International Cricket Council.
But Broad’s batting has gone downhill since. On Sunday, he fell for a duck when prodding outside off stump at Abbas, with Sarfraz holding a routine catch. BRIEF SCORES: England 184 & 242 (J Root 68, J Buttler 67, D Bess 57, M Amir 4/36, M Abbas 4/41) vs Pakistan 363 & 66/1 (H Sohail 39*)