England vs Pakistan, 2020: 3rd Test, Day 5 – Pakistan’s escape while follow-on, England's rare unbeaten home series and more stats

Another rain-affected day’s play in Southampton ensured the 3rd Test between England and Pakistan ended in a draw but the hosts took the series with 1-0 margin. Ground staff put out their best to make the ground fit for play and were successful in doing so for the final session. James Anderson’s wait for the 600th Test wicket came to an end when he dismissed Azhar Ali in the 6th over of the day. Babar Azam scored an unbeaten 63 as Pakistan reached 187/4 before the play was called off.

Here are the statistical highlights recorded from the 27.1 overs of play that took place on 5th day:

A series win over Pakistan after a decade:

2010 – England registered their first Test series win against Pakistan since beating them in the 2010 4-match series at home by 3-1 margin. England lost both the Test series they played against Pakistan in UAE in these ten years while the two home series during this period ended in a draw.

2016 – The last home Test series of 2+ matches where England did not lose a Test was the 3-match Test series against Sri Lanka in 2016 which they won by 2-0 margin.

Pakistan’s rare escape while follow-on:

2 – This Test is only the 2nd instance in the last 58 years where Pakistan managed to avoid a defeat after forced to follow-on. The other occasion was in the 1994 Rawalpindi Test against Australia where Pakistan batted as many as 152.1 overs.

Pakistan was made to follow-on ten times in the 26 years between the two drawn Tests but never batted for more than 87.3 overs in the following-on innings. They batted 83.1 overs while following-on during the Southampton Test.

England winless in Southampton:

3 – England failed to win any of the three Tests they played at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton in the 2020 home season. They lost the season opener against West Indies here while the two matches at this venue against Pakistan ended in a draw. This is only the 4th instance in Test history where a team played 3 or more matches at a venue in a season without winning one.

England lost all the three Tests they played at the Old Wanderers in Johannesburg during the 1905-06 tour of South Africa. Zimbabwe failed to win even one of the four Tests played at the Harare Sports Club during the 1999-00 season (3 lost, 1 draw). Bangladesh also played three Tests without winning even one at Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka (2 lost, 1 draw) during the 2004-05 season.

Anderson @ 600:

1 – James Anderson became the first pacer and the first England player to pick 600 wickets in the history of Test cricket. Anderson joined Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and Anil Kumble with the wicket of Azhar Ali. Anderson is also the slowest to reach 600 Test wickets in terms of matches having played as many as 156 for the milestone.

33717 – In terms of balls bowled, Anderson is the 2nd fastest having taken 33717 balls; only six more than the record holder Muttiah Muralitharan (33711).

Stats: James Anderson enters the elite ‘600 wickets in Test cricket’ list

Azhar leads from the front:

172 – Azhar Ali’s match aggregate of 172 is now the 2nd highest in a Test match for a Pakistan captain on England soil. Hanif Mohammad scored an unbeaten 187 during the first-innings of the 1976 Lord’s Test but didn’t get to bat in the second essay.

1977 – Azhar Ali’s match total of 172 runs are the most by a Pakistan skipper outside Asia since Mushtaq Mohammad’s 177 runs (121 and 56) during the 1977 Port of Spain Test against West Indies.

The 172 runs are also the most for a Pakistan captain in an away Test match since Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 215 runs (184 & 31*) during the 2005 Bangalore Test against India.

Babar @ 2000:

2045 – Babar Azam completed 2000 runs in Test cricket when he got to his score of 18 in the 2nd innings. Babar also went past 4000 runs in first-class cricket when he was on six.