England took the baseball philosophy to its zenith when they beat Pakistan in the series-opening Test match in Rawalpindi. Ben Stokes played attacking cricket by declaring on the fourth day, backing himself to take all ten of Pakistan’s wickets – and he did it under fading light. Now, the England win certainly helped India to qualify for World The final of the Test Championship which is to be played in England in June 2023.
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Pakistan were set for qualification as they had five Test matches against England and New Zealand on home soil. A win in Rawalpindi would have helped the Babar Azam-led side move up the standings; He was in fifth place. But that chance went out of hand and now India and Australia have the upper hand.
If Rohit Sharma and his men clean sweep Bangladesh, they can afford to lose at least one of their Tests at home against Australia and still have a chance of making the final. For Australia, if they whitewash the West Indies and win their two Tests against South Africa, they will also have a chance of making the final.
Read also: ‘Curator took my inputs but didn’t give me the pitch I wanted’: Babar Azam after Rawalpindi Test
Pakistan are still fifth on the table, but a win for either Australia or India in their upcoming Test series means the Babar-led side is likely to miss out.
Pacers Ollie Robinson and James Anderson took four wickets each as England registered a thrilling 74-run victory over Pakistan in the first Test in Rawalpindi on Monday.
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Anderson took 4-36 and Robinson 4-50 on the cool pitch of the Rawalpindi Stadium to bowl Pakistan out for 268, the stadium lights shining as daylight.
Pakistan’s last pair of Naseem Shah (six) and Mohammad Ali (0) hammered England in 35 minutes and 8.5 overs, before spinner Jack Leach trapped Naseem lbw, leaving the England players jubilant.
The victory – giving England a 1–0 lead in the three-Test series – epitomized England’s newly adopted “buzzball” cricket, an attacking style derived from head coach Brendon McCullum’s nickname.
Captain Ben Stokes was also active throughout the day, keeping incredible pressure on the Pakistan batsmen with a close set field and intelligent bowling changes.
He described the win as “special”, estimating that he had less than 10 minutes to seal the victory before bad light was called.
“I think it could end up being one of England’s greatest ever victories,” Stokes said.
“We did something very special this week.”
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