England completed a breathtaking victory in the first Test against Pakistan, Jack Leach putting the finishing touches to an innings and 47 runs win before lunch on day five in Multan.
The left-arm spinner snapped up the last three wickets on the final day to cap an incredible win after Pakistan ended with 556 runs on day two. No team in history has ever scored as many and gone on to lose without making their opponents bat twice, with England’s massive score of 823 doing the damage.
England captain Ollie Pope said: “Credit to the bowlers for the way they went about their stuff, and the fitness they showed. We knew the way to win this game was with a mammoth score on the board so credit to Harry Brook and Joe Root for their skills and determination.
“When you make 550 you think you are in the driving seat but we felt we had lots of wicket-taking opportunities. We would have backed ourselves to chase 140 or so if we needed to.”
Pakistan resumed the final day on a precarious 152-6 and Salman Agha was the first to depart in the morning after a defiant 63, with the introduction of Leach helping England snap his 109-run partnership with Aamer Jamal.
England’s pace bowlers peppered the two overnight batsmen with bouncers earlier and Jamal recovered after being hit on the side of the head by a fiery ball from Brydon Carse to bring up his own half-century.
He was then granted a lifeline when stand-in captain Pope put down a difficult chance at square-leg – England’s fifth dropped catch of the innings – and remained not out on 55.
Leach pulled off a stunning catch off his own bowling to remove Shaheen Afridi before having Naseem Shah stumped to seal the victory.
England had declared after making their highest total in 86 years, a colossal 823-7 in 150 overs after Harry Brook’s 317 and Joe Root’s 262, and extracted the most out of a lifeless pitch.
The hosts had flexed their muscles in the early part of the test with 556 in the first innings but found themselves under the gun trailing England by 115 runs at the end of the fourth day and they folded under pressure.
Brook said: “I enjoyed it a lot, it was tough out there with the heat but the plan was to bat as long as possible. You have to try and enjoy batting, keep rotating the strike and put the bad balls away. It was a good surface to cash in on. Hopefully there are many more to come.”
The sides meet again at the same venue in the second Test on Tuesday.
