Touch of class from Woakes and Buttler
PARTNERSHIP ENSURES ENGLAND SEAL 3-WICKET WIN
Sports Editor
Chris Woakes was the hero of an unlikely England victory at Old Trafford at Manchester as he hit an unbeaten 84 to stun Pakistan in the first Test yesterday.
England were struggling in pursuit of a victory target of 277 after collapsing to 117-5 on the fourth day.
But Woakes, who had helped drag England back into the match with 2-11 in just five overs late Friday, and fellow World Cup-winner Jos Buttler turned the tide with a stand of 139.
Nevertheless, with just 21 more runs needed, Buttler was lbw for 75 after trying to reversesweep leg-spinner Yasir Shah.
The batsman reviewed but all to no avail, with England now 256-6. By the time Pakistan left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi took the new ball, England needed just 13 more runs to win at a sun-drenched Old Trafford.
But there was still time for England to lose their seventh wicket when, with four more needed, Stuart Broad was plumb lbw on the sweep to Yasir.
Woakes, however, finished the match with an edged boundary off Afridi down to the third man rope as England went 1-0 up in a three-match campaign.
First time in six series
Victory meant England had won an opening Test for the first time in six series.
Defeat was tough on Yasir, who took eight wickets in the match. Wicketkeeper Buttler had a poor game in the field, twice missing Shan Masood on 45 during the Pakistan opener’s 156 that was instrumental in leaving England with a first-innings deficit of over a hundred runs. But whether it was cover-driving leg-spinner Shadab Khan or pulling teenage paceman Naseem Shah for another boundary, Buttler put the pressure back on Pakistan.
Buttler’s fifty came off just 55 balls, with seven fours, with Woakes no slouch in a 59-ball fifty he completed by coverdriving Naseem for the eighth boundary of his innings.
It was Woakes’s highest Test score since his hundred against India two years ago.