Internet Desk: Yasir Shah starred for Pakistan in a 75-run win over England in the opening match of a four-Test series, with the home side bowled out for 207 in 75.5 overs on Sunday (July 17), the fourth day of the first Test.
Yasir, who was playing in his first Test outside of Asia and the United Arab Emirates, had match figures of 10 for 141, including a second-innings haul of 4 for 69. His return, which surpassed Waqar Younis’s previous Test-match best for Pakistan at Lord’s of 8 for 154, was central to the visiting side going 1-0 up in the series.
Mohammad Amir ended the match when he bowled Jake Ball to leave England short after being set 283 for victory. Victory prompted the whole Pakistan team to perform several press-ups in front of the Lord’s Pavilion — a reference to their pre-tour military boot camp.
England was holding firm at 195 for 6 thanks to a determined stand of 56 between Jonny Bairstow (48) and Chris Woakes (23). But Bairstow’s three-and-a-half hour innings ended when he was bowled trying to whip a Yasir leg-break. The score soon became 196 for 8 when Amir bowled Stuart Broad. Yasir then had Woakes, who took 11 wickets in the match, caught at slip before Amir ended the contest.
Rahat Ali was the one who began things positively for Pakistan, removing England’s top three to reduce the home team to 47 for 3. His back-of-a-length ball had Alastair Cook (8) edging through to Sarfraz Ahmed behind the stumps. Alex Hales, Cook’s opening partner, made a brisk 16 before chasing a wide ball from Rahat, with Mohammad Hafeez holding a good catch at first slip. Rahat had taken 2 for 8 in 13 balls and England was 32 for 2.
Joe Root, England’s new No. 3, got off the mark with a back-foot cover drive for four off Rahat and also drove him through the same region, off the front foot, for another boundary. But with a man sent back for the shot, he fell into a hooking trap when he paddled a short ball from Rahat to Yasir at deep square-leg to be out for 9.
James Vince too had gotten off the mark with a cover-driven four off Rahat. Vince struck three fours in as many balls off Wahab Riaz, the third of Pakistan’s three left-arm quicks. And he made it five fours in six balls when an edge over point and a more authoritative cut off Yasir took him to 39. That saw Vince, in his fourth match at this level, surpass his previous Test-best of 35 against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street in May.
England was making steady progress at 135 for 4 when Yasir, who took 6 for 72 in the first innings, struck. A ball after Gary Ballance had pulled him for four, Yasir bowled him behind his legs for 43 with a delivery that spun out of the rough. Moeen Ali then charged down the pitch in an attempt to lift the legspinner, only to be bowled between bat and pad by a well-flighted one. Yasir had taken two wickets for two runs in six balls and England found itself 139 for 6.
Earlier, Pakistan added just one run to its overnight 214 for 8 as Stuart Broad cleaned up the tail. Yasir did not add to his 30 but more than delivered with the ball, and the total Pakistan had proved more than enough in the end.