England v Pakistan, 1st Test, Day 4 - 5 Defining Moments Of The Day

Pakistan registered a historic 75 run win over England to give a positive start to the four-match Test series. The Lord’s cricket ground witnessed four days of gripping test match performances. On day four, victory seemed unlikely for England as Yasir Shah spun his web around them. Chasing 283 to win on the fourth day, Alastair Cook’s side were undone by some inspired bowling. To be fair, the hosts were quite incompetent on the last day.

Jonny Bairstow, Gary Ballance and James Vince had given the hosts faint hope. But, Shah ripped through England’s line-up to finish with 10 wickets in the match. Comeback man Mohammad Amir did the honours of wrapping up the opposition and sealing the win with the wicket of the last man Jake Ball. The Pakistan team them set off to a jubilant celebration which culminated with the whole team playing tribute to the Pakistan army.

1.Underrated Rahat Ali rocks the tops order:

It won’t be an understatement to say that Rahat Ali played a huge role in Pakistan’s win. England was totally unprepared for the unrated left arm fast bowler who did the early damages i the first as well as the second innings. Alastair Cook and Alex Hales started off rather unusually with an attacking approach. However, they couldn’t make any large impact as Ali got rid of the skipper with the first ball of his second over. Four overs later, he snapped Hales and shortly pocketed Joe Root’s wicket to give a solid start to Pakistan.

2. Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes resist

England were brought down to a tense situation after Rahat Ali’s opening spell. James Vince and Gary Ballance made 42 and 43 respectively to keep the chase going forward. But, Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah soon snapped both of them. Moeen Ali also seemed in a hurry and departed quickly as England crumble badly. However, Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes then got together started the rescue act. Both occupied the crease for long periods and test the patience of the opposition. Woakes, especially, hung around greatly, playing out 108 balls during his time in the middle with Bairstowhooc kept the run flow intact from one end.

3. Yasir Shah crashes into Jonny Bairstow:

Jonny Bairstow along with Chris Woakes had become the thorn in the flesh for Pakistan. England looked meek in the 2nd innings and it appeared that match would get over by tea. But the Bairstow-Woakes stand delayed the proceedings for visitors. t one stage both looked firm and the game looked to be entering the fifth day. However, Yasir Shah brought cheers once again in the Pakistan camp after his leg break crashed onto Bairstow’s stumps, ending his time in the middle. As soon as the ball hit the wickets, Shah and the team went off crazy. And, why not they be crazy, they had just taken one more big step towards the historic win.

4. Those two balls from Mohammad Amir’s:

The match was as good as over for England after Bairstow’s wicket. Shah had filled the atmosphere with joy and excitement in the game which had become slow for a short while. In the following over, Mohammad Amir pepped up the events even more after he swung back one to clean bowl Stuart Broad in the following over. The celebrations were wild as Amir had finally got a wicket in the 4th inning after bowling for the whole day. England were 8 down now and victory was in sight. The next delivery added more spice. A slightly reversing ball hit Steven Finn on the pad. Amir was quick to appeal and Dharmasena had problems giving Finn out. The atmosphere became electric all of a sudden as the Pakistani crowd in the stadium went beserk.

5.The legendary celebration:

The wonderful game had a perfect ending as the team led by veteran Younus Khan paid a military style tribute to the Pakistan army.The team had underwent rigorous training camp with the Pakistan army before coming to England. The aim was to stay at the top level of fitness. The effect of the all the hard work was clearly visible. A major credit for the win surely goes to the Pakistan Army.