Last Match Report – First Test of England vs Pakistan Match 2021-2023

tea Pakistan 108 to 0 (Shafiq 54*, Imam-ul-Haq 52*) England 657 (Brook 153, Crowley 122, Pope 108, Ducket 107) by 549 points

Imam fired Leach over the rope at deep midway to break a series of 11 spot-balls off England’s first spinner and Shafiq advanced down the field to hold Jack long to bring up a fifty for Pakistan.

Shafiq lifted his half-century driving Majeed to the boundary of the cover off Jacks, the seventh of his four innings, and Imam followed shortly afterwards, pushing a Root delivery towards the cover for one out.

Still trailing by 549 points, the home team had some encouragement from the pair’s unbroken attitude after a grueling spell on the court.

England, with only one front-line bowler, delivered 21 successive slow bowling runs each time as captain Ben Stokes set the attacking fields. Jacks achieved the part-time role he helped secure for his Test debut when Ben Foakes failed to recover from an illness that had swept the touring camp on the eve of the match and Root re-enacted a camp he had played several times before with Liam Livingstone, England’s other debutant and sometimes seemingly that Vertigo has leg trouble and stays out of the attack.

It was all a prelude to the return of James Anderson to try and extract some reverse swing. There weren’t many performances from the limited guide one sent in before the break but, having dominated the game until lunch, England left the hosts with a mountain to climb.

England’s record-breaking innings ended on 657 and Brook scored a highest four-wicket haul. Resuming 101, he made his way to 153 in another stunning display by the visiting side.

The hosts managed to take the remaining six prizes at lunch, but not before England added 151 more, having already amassed 506 for 4, the most ever scored on the opening day of a Test match.

Stokes, who eclipsed England’s feat with a wild six against Muhammad Ali in the dying light on Thursday, fired another back over Naseem Shah’s head for the second ball on Friday on his way to 41 from 18 deliveries. He was out four balls later when Naseem took the pace and knocked off the top off mid stump.

Zahid was raised for six on the ground and in second class by skipping Livingston off the seventh ball he faced in Tests. But he only faced three before he got out to a deep square off Breeze.

The Jacks missed Yorker Breeze on the first ball he faced and he was hit on the pad. But Pakistan’s lbw review failed when the ball was found to be going to the leg side.

He took Brock to Ascetic on a remarkable tour, which went on 27 times. Playing in only his second Test, Brook swept Ascetic for six on extra cover, swept the next ball well for four, and swept again for another four. He wasn’t done yet either as he hit the fourth ball for four long goals and then hung on for six again down the ground. Brook tried to get big again in the last ball, and as he missed and sent top edges back over his head, the ball trickled away for another three runs to exacerbate the ascetic’s woe.

Four balls in three off Naseem’s next ball, the second of which the keeper broke and the first for four, brought Brooke 150, although he tried to sweep the ball next to Saud Shakeel at deep square leg to make 153 out from just 116 off. balls.

Ollie Robinson edged England past 600 with an ascetic six on the ground before he picked Jack Naseem at half way off Muhammad Ali after a 30-run cameo.

Robinson failed to overturn his dismissal from Zahid for 37 years and Anderson mistook a googly for Zahid straight to Imam-ul-Haq in his deep square leg to be the last man out.