HUSSAIN BOWLED OVER BY TEST WIN
Bazball to the fore as England beat Pakistan in record-breaking Rawalpindi match
SKIPPER Ben Stokes hailed England’s nail-biting victory in the first Test against Pakistan Monday (5) as “one of the best” of his career – particularly given the lifeless Rawalpindi pitch.
With just minutes to spare in dying light after five days of enthralling cricket, England finally halted a heroic last stand by Pakistan’s tailenders to win the first Test by 74 runs.
It was only the third time England have won a Test in Pakistan, although they haven’t visited since 2005 because of security issues.
“To be able to get a result on this type of wicket is mind-blowing,” Stokes said ahead of the second Test starting in Multan on Friday (9).
“I think it’s probably one of the best. The effort that everyone has managed to put in this whole week is just incredible.”
England have “Bazball” to thank for their victory – the free-wheeling brand of cricket coined from the nickname of the team’s head coach Brendon “Baz” McCullum, a New Zealander.
McCullum was an aggressive batter in his playing days – he holds the record for the fastest individual Test century. Under him, and captain Stokes, the English have brought an ODI style of playing to the five-day game.
Records tumbled in Rawalpindi, with England becoming the only team in history to score 500 runs on the first day of a Test, courtesy of four individual centuries, another first.
Overall, some 1,768 runs were scored in the match – the third-highest aggregate since Test cricket began.
Still, Pakistan did well to chase England’s
daunting 657-run first-innings total to trail by just 78 runs.
England again turned on the fireworks in their second innings before a bold Stokes declaration left Pakistan seeking 343 runs for victory.
For a while, it looked as if the home team would do it, but a devastating last session saw England shine as the light dimmed for a famous victory.
“We’re pretty lost for words,” said Stokes, who now has seven wins in the last eight Tests. “I feel very honoured and feel a very privileged position to be able to lead these guys.
“Jimmy Anderson was saying he felt a bit emotional, so having a bloke with near enough 180 Test matches (176) feeling like that at the end of this is proof that we’ve achieved something very special.”
Stokes also suggested that “Bazball” was here to stay. “Test cricket is generally exciting when England are playing,” he said. “That’s what we set out to do from day one.”
And he praised the fighting spirit of his players in dealing with a mystery virus that threatened the start of the first Test.
“The way in which the lads dealt with it and just cracked on was a credit to them as individuals and as a team,” he said.
Stokes also had praise for the home crowd, who seemed delighted to see England visit at last, but were disappointed that their side did not win.
“I’m not going to lie, the reception that we got walking off the field as winners in Pakistan was very special,” he said.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain gave highpraise to Stokes’s leadership in the match.
“Ben Stokes has just produced the finest five days of captaincy I’ve ever witnessed – either growing up as a kid, playing or commentating on the game,” Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail. “To win a Test match in those conditions, on that Rawalpindi pitch, probably the flattest I’ve seen, was truly remarkable.
“To win in these circumstances, you have to work out how to get 20 wickets, to score your runs quickly enough to give yourself time to get those 20 wickets, and the decision-making process had to be clinical throughout.
“It was a masterclass.”