Pakistan defeats England to win Test series after heroics of Noman and Sajid | Cricket News

Pakistan beat England by nine wickets in the third Test in three days to secure a 2-1 series win in Rawalpindi.

Spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan stifled England's batting attack in three days to hand Pakistan a long-awaited nine-wicket victory in the third and final Test in Rawalpindi on Saturday.

The 38-year-old left-arm spinner Noman and 31-year-old off-spinner Sajid had taken all 20 wickets on a recycled second Test pitch last week to level the series and once again beat the batters on a constructed dry surface by 19 shared wickets as England were dismissed for 112 on the third day.

It was England's lowest innings total in Pakistan, surpassing the previous score of 130 all-outs in Lahore in 1987.

Pakistan, who secured a hefty 77-run lead in the first innings, reached 37-1 just before the lunch break to secure their first home series win since 2021 when they beat South Africa 2-0.

The win against England is something “special” for Pakistan.

Skipper Shan Masood (23 not out), who lost six consecutive Test matches as captain before beating England in the second Test, sealed the win with a six-over long-off off Shoaib Bashir after smashing four consecutive boundaries off Jack Leach .

The left-arm spinner grabbed the only wicket to fall when he successfully sent an LBW TV delivery to Saim Ayub, who scored eight.

“It’s special,” Masood said. “The first win came after a long time and was backed up by a series win… it's about character. Being here and standing as a winning team is special for us.”

England's batting power faltered gently against the spin duo for the second time as Ali chased his three wickets in the first innings with 6-42 on a wicket dried out by huge industrial-sized fans and outdoor heaters.

Khan grabbed 4-69 to add to his six-wicket haul in the first innings as the English batters could not cope with the variable bounce and turn that Khan and Ali brought out.

England won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs, which led to Pakistan recalling both Noman and Sajid for the remaining two Test matches and reusing the same surface in Multan to counter England's aggressive batting.

Touring captain Ben Stokes, who missed England's memorable win in the first Test while recovering from a torn hamstring but returned to lead the side in more difficult conditions for his batsmen, described his side's performance as “disappointing”.

“We were presented with some challenges in the last two games and were unable to withstand them,” he said. “Credit to Pakistan.”

Pakistan's revenge on England ends miserable Test run

Joe Root (33) and Harry Brook (26) returned with a precarious score of 24-3, reducing the deficit to 11 runs before England lost a group of wickets.

Brook got a thick edge as he tried to cut Ali and the left-arm spinner intercepted Stokes lbw on an arm ball to which the England captain shouldered his arms. England were still two runs behind when Jamie Smith (3) stormed through the wicket to Khan and his off-stump was knocked over and England slipped to 6-75.

Khan then ended Root's fierce resistance by finding the outside edge before England's tail quickly buckled against the spin duo. “The boys have trained hard but when you come out in the middle it can be completely different,” admitted Stokes.

The victory was sweet revenge for the home team, who had lost 3-0 to England on their last tour of Pakistan two years ago under the captaincy of Stokes.

The series win ends a difficult and controversial period for Pakistan and Masood, who was named Test captain last year but whose position came under increasing pressure. A 3-0 series loss to Australia was followed by Bangladesh's historic 2-0 win in Pakistan before England handed Masood another defeat with a record-breaking 823-7 defeat.

“We would like to dedicate this (series win) to the people of Pakistan who have been through a lot,” Masood said. “Hopefully this puts a smile on people’s faces and hopefully we can have full houses.”