Pakistan Wins Series Against England with Devastating Bowling from Nauman and Sajid.
Pakistan clinched the three-match Test series against England thanks to the destructive bowling of spinners Nauman Ali and Sajid Khan. On the third day of the third and final Test in Rawalpindi, Pakistan defeated England by nine wickets. In the match, Nauman and Sajid collectively took 19 wickets.
After losing the first Test to England by an innings and 47 runs in Multan, Pakistan included Nauman and Sajid in the squad for the second Test. Nauman and Sajid took a combined 20 wickets in that game, securing a 152-run victory and leveling the series. Despite trailing, Pakistan ultimately won the series 2-1, with Nauman and Sajid taking 39 wickets in the last two matches.
This marks the second time Pakistan has won a three-match Test series after losing the first game. Previously, they achieved this in 1995, winning the series after a loss in the first Test to Zimbabwe. Additionally, Pakistan won its first home series since 2021 and its first Test series against England since November 2015.
In Rawalpindi, after trailing by 77 runs in the first innings, England started their second innings and reached 24 runs for three wickets by the end of the second day, trailing by 53 runs with seven wickets in hand. Joe Root remained unbeaten on five and Harry Brook on three.
On the third day, Nauman broke through by dismissing Brook at 66 runs, initiating England’s batting collapse. England lost their last six wickets for 42 runs under the spin pressure from Nauman and Sajid, getting bowled out for 112 in 37.2 overs. This score marks England’s lowest team total on Pakistani soil.
Root scored 33, and Brook scored 26, while captain Ben Stokes and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith scored three each. Gus Atkinson and Jack Leach added 10 runs each.
In this innings, Nauman took six wickets for 42 runs, and Sajid took four for 69. In the first innings, Pakistan’s three spinners—Sajid, Nauman, and Zahid Mahmood—took six, three, and one wickets, respectively. Together, Pakistan’s spinners claimed all 20 wickets across both innings of the match.
In Multan, Nauman and Sajid combined for 20 wickets in the second Test of the series.
This marks the fourth time in Pakistan’s Test history that their spinners have taken all 20 wickets in a match. Across the three-match series, Pakistani spinners collected a total of 73 wickets, setting a new record for the highest wicket tally by Pakistan’s spinners in a Test series. Previously, Pakistan’s spinners took 71 wickets in a three-match home series against New Zealand during the 1969-70 season.
Amer Jamal was the only pacer in the lineup, yet he didn’t bowl due to the dominance of the spinners. This was the first instance in a Test where no Pakistani pacer bowled at all.
When England was bowled out for 112 runs in their second innings, Pakistan only needed 36 runs to win. They reached the target with just 19 balls and one wicket lost. Saim Ayub scored eight runs before being dismissed, while opener Abdullah Shafique remained unbeaten on five, and captain Shan Masood scored a quick 23 runs from six balls, which included four fours and one six.
Saud Shakeel was named Player of the Match for his first-innings score of 134, while Sajid was named Player of the Series, with 19 wickets in two matches for 401 runs.
With this win over England in the Test Championship series, Pakistan rose to seventh place in the table, surpassing Bangladesh. After 10 matches, Pakistan has four wins and six losses, with a 33.33% point percentage. Bangladesh dropped to eighth with three wins and six losses in nine matches, with a 30.56% point percentage. England is in sixth place with a 40.79% point percentage after 19 matches.
