Cricket: a “famous and unexpected” England win
“One sensational session.” That was all it took, said Paul Newman in the Daily Mail, for England to “burst through Pakistan” and seal a “famous and quite unexpected” Test victory. After the first innings, when Pakistan took a lead of 103, England’s prospects looked dismal; history suggested they had only a 3% chance of victory. But on the fifth day, the match “changed out of nowhere”: six Pakistani batsmen were dismissed in 20 overs; four of those wickets were lost in a staggering 22 balls. Now 2-1 ahead in this “memorable” series, England are “closing in on the No. 1 world ranking”.
In the second innings, England were “outstanding in the field”, said Mike Selvey in The Guardian. The catching was “flawless”, the bowling “relentless”. It was a “team bowling performance”, with the wickets shared equally between the five main bowlers. Most pleasing of all were the two wickets for Steven Finn, ending a 429-ball wicketless run for England that stretched back to June. If only the batsmen were more reliable, said Geoffrey Boycott in The Daily Telegraph. Apart from Alastair Cook and Joe Root, no one in the top five of the batting order has scored a century in the past year: Alex Hales, James Vince and Gary Ballance all remain liabilities. Further down the order, at least, most players are pulling their weight. Moeen Ali, in particular, has improved hugely in this series, scoring half-centuries in both innings of the third Test. But too often, the team find themselves having to “come from behind”. Still, it makes for thrilling games, said Richard Hobson in The Times. As support for switching to four-day Tests grows, this was a reminder of how exciting five-day matches can be. Had it been limited to four days, it would have “petered out into a dull draw”. At its best, traditional Test cricket remains “the pick of the formats”.