PAK vs ENG: Pakistan's home humiliation continues as England win in Multan

Pakistan home humiliation continued in Multan as England thrashed them by an innings and 47 runs to win the first Test and take a lead in the series on October 11, Friday.

In Short

• Leach picked up all 3 wickets in the morning
• Pakistan have lost 7 out of 11 Tests at home since 2022
• The 2nd Test starts on October 15

England and Bazball compounded the misery at home on Pakistan as they won the Multan Test by an innings and 47 runs. Looking to overhaul England's lead, the hosts could only muster up 220 for 9 in the second innings, with Abrar Ahmed not able to bat on Day 5.

The Pakistan spinner was hospitalised after high fever on Day 4, which meant that the visitors needed just 3 wickets to win the match. Pakistan were on 152 for 6 at the close of day four, with Aamer Jamal and Agha Salman at the crease. The duo had an improbable task in front of them on Friday as they were looking for a way to save the blushes of the hosts and avoid an innings defeat. The start was a bit shaky as Jamal almost gave away his wicket to Atkinson as the ball almost fell into the hands of Carse.

PAK vs ENG 1st Test, Day 5: Highlights | Scorecard

After this, Salman and Jamal would take the attack to the England bowlers and piled on 39 runs and navigated through the first hour of play up until drinks. However, just after the break, Jack Leach would strike as Salman missed a straight one from the England spinner and it struck him in front of the stumps.

Jamal went on the aggressive mode and scored a brilliant fifty and he was given a lifeline by Ollie Pope as he dropped him. But Leach continued his fine form in the morning and pulled off a blinder to dismiss Shaheen Afridi. Leach would then get rid of Naseem Shah to secure the win and help the visitors take the lead in the series.

Pakistan continue to remain out of sorts at home

During the telecast of the match, the broadcasters pulled up a graphic that showed the sorry state of Pakistan cricket at the moment. Since 2022, Pakistan are only the team to not have won a Test match at home, losing 7 out of the 11 matches.

After the humiliating Bangladesh series loss, the England one was where Pakistan players had to really step up and show that they can turn things around. There were surely signs of this in the first innings when they piled on 556 runs, with centuries from Abdullah Shafique, captain Shan Masood and Agha Salman.

However, the constant flop shows from main stars Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan continued with the bat and the Pakistan bowlers seemed to be completely devoid of any ideas or motivation. Root and Brook would pummel them into submission on Day 3 and 4 and the hosts were completely clueless on how to respond.

Apart from Saud Shakeel, who bowled just 2 overs and conceded 14, every other Pakistan bowler went above 100.

While the coaching system may have changed, there seems to be no new mantra that is being brought in by Jason Gillespie and Co. It is back to the drawing board once again, but it seems like this result will bring in more scrutiny.

Harry Brook leads the Bazball rampage yet again in Pakistan

When Bazball came to Pakistan in 2022, they caught the imagination of the fans. During ther 3-0 clean sweep, the one name that stood out was Harry Brook, who just seemed to love the tracks in Pakistan. The 25-year-old had scored 468 runs in 5 innings at a staggering average of 93.6.

The England batter has now scored more than half of that tally with his 317 in Multan and seems set to break all sorts of records. Nasser Hussain called him a mix of Kevin Pietersen and Joe Root and the 25-year-old lived up to the billing.

Brook is seen as the heir apparent to Joe Root for England and he seems to be the pioneer when it comes to the Bazball mantra. Unless an almighty drop in form happens, expect Brook to continue his rampage in Pakistan, which is something the hosts wouldn't want with the second Test starting on October 15.