England and Pakistan faced off in the second Test on December 9, Friday and Day 4 of the contest turned out to be a nail-biter as Pakistan came as close as they can to clinch the victory. To add more, chasing a target of 355, the Babar Azam-led team put on a tremendous fight and eventually the game in the end Saud Shakeel’s great-hearted innings.
To add more to the game, it was England who batted first and put on 281 runs on the board at the end of their first innings. Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope stood up for the Three Lions with their 63 and 60 respectively, putting the team in a strong position, much enough to bowl out Pakistan before they take the lead.
Eventually, Babar and his men were bowled out for 202 runs in their first innings, gifting England a lead of 79 runs, with Babar top-scoring for the team with his hard-fought 75. Much to the delight of the Pakistan fans, Abrar Ahmed, the debutant outclassed in the first innings and played a vital role in restricting Ben Stokes and his men to less than 300.
Pakistan produce great fight in second innings
The Three Lions were bowled out for 275 runs in the second innings, setting a total of over 300 for Pakistan. However, Mohammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique opened the innings for the team as Imam-ul-Haq was sent to the hospital to have an MRI scan post-sustaining hamstring injury prior to the start of the chase.
While Rizwan and Shafique made their way back to the dressing room after contributing 30 and 45 respectively, the Pakistani skipper perished after gathering 1 run to his name, putting the team in deep trouble. However, Shakeel and Imam lifted the team from the hiccup and scored a vital 94 and 60.
While many predicted that Pakistan might just inch pass the target, they lost their 9th wicket with just 36 runs required for the win. England, on the other hand, kept thriving for the sole wicket and eventually won the game by 26 runs, sealing the series 0-2.
As things stand, let us take a look at a few Twitter reactions to the epic match between Pakistan and England:
King of the minnow bashers.. England....
— Mephisto (@Mephisto01979) December 12, 2022
King of bottling it against proper teams... England!
Scared to play the big teams unless forced!
#PAKvENG
England believe they can win from any situation, Pakistan believe they can lose from any situation. #PAKvENG #TestCricket #BazBall
— Khushendr Palwar (@khushendr) December 12, 2022
Bas jis bowler ko thok sakte ho thoko#PAKvENG
— Ayesha Siddiqua💜Eman and Mishaal Api's day ❤️🎂 (@asiddiqua7) December 12, 2022
Saud ko phirr khelnee doo#PAKvENG
— Tashi (@ZartashaMalikk) December 12, 2022
Medium pacers won't, select faster men for next series against New Zealand#PAKvENG
— Zarb e Haider (@iAhmadMukhtar) December 12, 2022
That’s why we needed Yasir Shah here. He’s a handy tail batter and a much better bowler than Zahid. #PAKvENG
— Asadullah Mirani (@AsadullahMirani) December 12, 2022
Pakistan ko Harna Pata hai aur eng ko jeetna pata hai #PAKvENG
— Tushar Sawant🇮🇳 (@TusharS00941525) December 12, 2022
#PakvEng
— Irfan (@dr_irfan_malik) December 12, 2022
Congratulations #England
Series 2-0
Embarrassing performance at home from Pakistan team. Very disappointed. Captaincy needs to change #PAKvENG #PakistanCricket
— Muhammad Ibrahim Arbab (@iamibrahimarbab) December 12, 2022
England win the Test series in Pakistan after 22 years Congratulations Bazball winning Tuk Tuk flop #PAKvENG
— Hasnain Shah (@shahhasnain77) December 12, 2022
@KazmiWajahat Padosiyo kesa raha Monday 😂😂 #PAKvENG
— Siraj Khan (@sid4047) December 12, 2022