England captain Ben Stokes praised his men for their effort throughout the Test series opener against Pakistan and called their triumph on a featherbed of a surface in Rawalpindi as “one of England’s greatest away Test wins”.
The tourists came up with their first away Test win in more than a year and also recorded their first victory in Pakistan upon their 17-year-long awaited return to the shores with an excellent all-round display that showcased skill and valour with which Stokes and co. continue to play under head coach Brendon McCullum.
The term ‘Bazball’ was the talk of the town over the past week as England stuck to their guns from the summer back home and rallied their way to a humongous 657 off just 101 overs in the first-innings and then blasted their way to 264/7 declared in less than 36 overs in a third-innings call-off that reflected the side’s ambitious nature and disentangling from the fear of defeat.
The bowling effort was equally disciplined on a benign surface that required it in heaps plus the skill and the consistency of executing it. After giving away 579 in the first essay, England came roaring back to dismiss Pakistan to 268 amidst scares of bad light, robbing them of a much-deserved victory. Ollie Robinson and James Anderson shared eight wickets between them on a track designed to take them out of the contest.
“It’s just incredible. We’re pretty lost for words in that dressing room. The hard work and toil that everyone’s put in over this five days is really hitting everyone.”
“Jimmy Anderson was saying he felt a bit emotional, so having a bloke with near enough 180 Test matches [176] feeling like that at the end of this is proof that we’ve achieved something very special this week,”
Stokes said at the post-match presentation for what was only England’s third Test win in Pakistan.
The 31-year-old took pride in his team bouncing back from adversity in the lead up to the Test, wherein several of his men were down with sickness, including him. The bug that spread into the camp forced them to change their combination with their designated keeper Ben Foakes out of action.
It meant Pope donning the gloves while also shouldering the batting responsibility at No.3. The player then made a hundred in the first-innings and took an excellent catch down the leg side to help Anderson dismiss tailender Zahid Mahmood, which put England on the brink.
It was a piece of athleticism and precision that Foakes, rated England’s most technically correct keeper, would’ve been proud of in one of multiple examples of England finding a hero that stood up at various stages of the game.
“You could go through this whole Test match and point out key individuals. But what we’ve had to deal with coming in makes this one a little bit better.
We’ve got some broken bodies in that changing room, but having the lads run in like that today … as a captain, it’s amazing to see. I don’t think I’ve seen a group of players who want to put their bodies on the line as much for the other 10 guys on the field,”
Stokes recognised.
The skipper was also delighted with the persistent buy-in and “selflessness” shown by England’s inexperienced batting unit into the ultra-aggressive batting method inspired by McCullum as they batted at well over six an over throughout the Test and gave their bowlers the time required to pick the 20 Pakistani wickets.
