Banquo wrote: ↑Mon Dec 05, 2022 11:54 am
I'd give Stokes motm just for his ballsy captaincy.
echo this, the JR approach would have been to plod on until an unachievable target was reached then add 20%, end of contest.
Mixing up the attack too, real old school skipsmanship.
Real seasonal cheer with his gung-ho-ho-ho approach
also .(from beeb)
'.921 runs in 136.5 overs at a scoring rate of 6.73, the fastest of any team batting twice in Test history'
'ended a run of 11 away Tests without victory and secured a first win over Pakistan outside the UK for 22 years with an entire XI that had never played a Test here before.'
Galfon wrote: ↑Mon Dec 05, 2022 12:26 pmand the virus disruption..phew.
That's not to be underestimated - we lost about 3-4 wickets to not having a proper wicketkeeper (although Pope did put in some sterling work as a stand-in). Could've been quite comfortable with a different build-up.
Really incredible just how much has been achieved with a change of attitude.
Fantastic win. I thought Pakistan looked odds on when they were 170 odd for 3 but we hung in and got the job done. A superb all round team effort.
Stokes is quite some player and captain.
Galfon wrote: ↑Mon Dec 05, 2022 12:26 pmand the virus disruption..phew.
That's not to be underestimated - we lost about 3-4 wickets to not having a proper wicketkeeper (although Pope did put in some sterling work as a stand-in). Could've been quite comfortable with a different build-up.
Really incredible just how much has been achieved with a change of attitude.
Michael Atherton's article is revealing re lack of historical spinner success in Pakistan later in games, and also insightful on Stokes's tactical shifts. he's a great pundit imo
After a 17-year absence from Pakistan, it was worth the wait. An epic, nerve-jangling final day, watched by a large and completely enthralled crowd, ebbed and flowed with the result uncertain until the embers of the Test had almost stopped flickering. The match concluded with the light fading rapidly, although not quite so dramatically as it had done when England last won in the country, in Karachi, more than 20 years ago.
Victories in Pakistan come around infrequently — this is only the third in England’s history — a measure of just how hard it is to win here on flat pitches and with the shortened days. England’s most testing opponent on this final day was time, with the minutes ticking away, dusk approaching, and the last pair resisting stubbornly until, with about ten minutes remaining, Jack Leach skidded one on to Naseem Shah’s front pad with the second new ball.
An agonising wait followed as Naseem reviewed, but when confirmation came, the England team celebrated joyously, all the sweat and toil of five days made worthwhile. Having made all the running, and having declared to offer Pakistan a tantalising opportunity, victory was no less than they deserved. It is hard to think that any other England team could have won in these circumstances, such was the lifeless nature of the pitch, and so quickly did the batsmen need to score to engineer the opportunity.
Leach had only a small role to play otherwise in the final innings, dominated as it was by England’s three seamers, who took nine wickets between then, having found an ally in reverse-swing. Jimmy Anderson, the ageless champion, bowled magnificently, taking four wickets, while Ollie Robinson, criticised a year ago for his fitness, kept coming in and took four as well. Ben Stokes bowled himself to a standstill with an 11-over spell in the afternoon and deserved more than the solitary wicket that came his way.
It would have been fitting had Stokes taken the final wicket of the game because his captaincy here was extraordinary. He encouraged his batsmen to play almost recklessly in pursuit of giving his bowlers enough time to win and not many would have declared when he did so at teatime on the fourth day, tempting Pakistan to play ball. Vindication came not just with the victory, but with a rapt full house and acknowledgement of the enduring value of the five-day game.
Even so, it needed Stokes to show all his tactical skill on a final day when wickets were earned rather than gifted. After the short-pitched ploy of the fourth evening, Stokes relied on Robinson and Anderson and a more traditional line and length strategy from the outset. Both seamers were given the opening hour until drinks and the first 14 overs produced 13 runs only. The bowling was accurate, the fields suffocating, with a ring set in front of the batsmen, making runs hard to come by.
One precious wicket came when Imam-ul-Haq was taken neatly down the leg side by Ollie Pope off Anderson, the bowler having altered his angle of attack towards leg stump. Mohammad Rizwan, usually the busiest of batsmen, was becalmed for 23 balls, an indication of the pressure the bowlers were exerting and the pressure Pakistan were feeling. Robinson’s seven-over spell conceded only seven runs, and Anderson was even more parsimonious, conceding five runs from his six overs.
In the absence of Liam Livingstone, Stokes had one less arrow in his quiver to fire at Pakistan’s batsmen and it was announced just as England walked out on to the field that Livingstone would play no further part in the series and would fly home on Tuesday. It meant that the already thin slow bowling resources became thinner still, and that potential problem became apparent the moment Stokes turned to spin.
Will Jacks was given the ball after morning drinks, and Rizwan immediately changed tack, dispatching him for two leg-side boundaries and taking ten runs from his first over. A six followed in the next, and Jacks was withdrawn after three expensive overs. From the other end, Leach bowled seven overs for 21 runs, but looked unthreatening and, in all, 72 runs came from the 16 overs of spin before lunch, while only 14 runs came off the same number of overs from the seamers.
This highlighted just how difficult it is for spinners to take wickets on the fourth innings in Pakistan, where the pitches do not deteriorate as they do in other parts of the subcontinent. In no country have spinners a higher average on fourth innings than in Pakistan, and no Pakistan spinner has taken a five-wicket haul on fourth innings here since Abdul Qadir in 1986. They have produced some high-quality spinners in that time too.
In part, that explains why Saud Shakeel, the left-handed debutant, has such a good record in the fourth innings in domestic cricket, and he showed his skill and temperament moving to a smooth half-century in the morning. A swept boundary off Leach took him to 50 in 104 balls and with Rizwan looking untroubled, save one lofted drive off Leach that just evaded cover, Pakistan went to lunch needing a further 174 runs to win.
Strangely, given the discrepancy between seam and spin, Stokes did not bowl himself in the morning but rectified that immediately after lunch, bowling in tandem with first Anderson and then Robinson for an hour until drinks. The ball had begun to reverse-swing more than at any stage in the game and that, combined with the excellence of Anderson and Robinson, brought the wickets of Rizwan, caught behind, and Shakeel, caught excellently by a diving Keaton Jennings at short cover.
Looming was the thought of the second new ball and how long Stokes could keep himself and the seamers going. Having retired hurt the evening before with a finger injury, Azhar Ali joined Salman Agha, the last two recognised front-line batsmen. Refuelled, Anderson replaced Robinson again, while Stokes continued, putting in one of those shifts, 11 overs long, that he has become renowned for when the game is on the line.
Twice England nearly broke through in the run-up to the tea break. The first came when Leach, introduced for the first time in the afternoon, had Salman given leg-before sweeping, only to be denied by a review that revealed the ball to be going over the stumps, on this, one of the slowest, lowest pitches in living memory. Then, in the final over before the break, Pope spilled a tough chance down the leg side, Azhar the batsman, Robinson the bowler. At tea, Pakistan required 86 more, and England needed five wickets.
The new ball became available after tea, but was not taken immediately, a productive move given that Robinson, finding significant reverse-swing, trapped Salman leg-before in the 81st over. Naseem’s first ball, a yorker, grazed the stumps, and in the next over Robinson encouraged a leg-side tickle from Azhar into a leg trap where Joe Root was waiting. It was another moment of magic from Stokes the captain, a moment superseded five overs later when Pope took a stunning one-handed leg-side catch to remove Zahid Mahmood off Anderson.
Eight wickets down became nine when Anderson swung one into Haris Rauf’s pads two balls after that and then frustration set in. Pope and Root allowed an edge to fly between them in the 91st over, Naseem the lucky beneficiary. Time ticked by; the sun lowered itself; the floodlights bathed the ground in artificial light; the crowd cheered every dot ball and sat otherwise in nail-bitten silence. The draw loomed.
England crowded the bat; eight, sometimes nine fielders close by. With no more than ten minutes to go, Stokes pulled his final rabbit from the hat: he took the new ball in the middle of his final over, the 95th of the innings; he then removed himself from the attack, brought Leach back on in his place, and three balls later the match was done.
Stokes had roused his team to an extraordinary final effort, with five wickets coming in 19 overs after tea to the cost of only 11 runs. He and his team had pulled off a stunning victory, reaching dizzy new heights in the process.
fivepointer wrote: ↑Mon Dec 05, 2022 5:43 pm
Excellent write up. Atherton is terrific on tv. He and Nasser are usually spot on with their analysis and comment.
Yep. Noticed that Digger has made a comeback too- pleased about that, excellent commentator, if not quite the tactical analysis of Hussein or Atherton.
(Warney is much missed- a different league to even the ones above; Sangakkarra also fantastic; funnily enough, I think Stokes is the captain Warney may have been but for a few ermmmm 'slips')
Brave when it works, reckless when it dinnae - certainly get your money's worth! 180 at lunch is still some lick.
Consolidate or conslogilate decision for Stokes.
Galfon wrote: ↑Fri Dec 09, 2022 8:34 am
Brave when it works, reckless when it dinnae - certainly get your money's worth! 180 at lunch is still some lick.
Consolidate or conslogilate decision for Stokes.
6 wickets in a row in debut for their leggie. Conslogidate it was
Going to be really difficult to pick a batting lineup when all are fit. We surely can't be seeing Pope as a full-time keeper (especially when it drops him from no 3 as it has this game) and YJB has always looked better as a batsman without the responsibility of the gloves, but it's hard to make a case for Foakes when we've got this kind of lineup in this kind of form.
Mind, Pakistan are making it easy for us this tour. Not a vintage side, so probably shouldn't get too overexcited.
A good day. Bowlers did a great job this morning and batsmen have put us in a strong position. Brook looks the absolute business. Been impressed with Duckett, too.
Brook looks like he should be a fixture already - another off the Yorks. rank!..
Eng quickies all do their bit, despite the total it's a tough ask for Pak. on this wicket.
Puja wrote: ↑Sat Dec 10, 2022 12:43 pm
Going to be really difficult to pick a batting lineup when all are fit. We surely can't be seeing Pope as a full-time keeper (especially when it drops him from no 3 as it has this game) and YJB has always looked better as a batsman without the responsibility of the gloves, but it's hard to make a case for Foakes when we've got this kind of lineup in this kind of form.
Mind, Pakistan are making it easy for us this tour. Not a vintage side, so probably shouldn't get too overexcited.
Puja
Surely Jacks just misses out and Stokes is the fifth bowler...
Great win again, hard to win there (historically- admittedly haven’t been there for 17 years). Excellent entertainment and skills on display from our seamers- as Puja said, this Pakistan team is a bit patched up and non vintage, but you are battling very flat wickets and our approach is excellent
Puja wrote: ↑Mon Dec 12, 2022 8:36 am
Great win, but the closeness is more proof that Leach is not up to the top level. Worth using the last test to give the youngster a twirl?
Puja
The leggy? Agreed on leach (though 4 wickets 1st innings and a better economy rate than the Pakistani spinners), a shame cos clearly a good team guy, but there isn't a host of obvious replacements. I'd also add that this wickets got flatter if anything during the game- batting got easier, even against spin. I'd be trying to get Rashid interested in test cricket again.
Another excellent win. A really fine all round team effort, brilliantly led by Stokes. I'd cut Leach a bit of slack. He isnt Shane Warne but 5 wickets in the game isnt a bad return on a pitch that didnt offer extravagant turn. I wouldnt play the young leggy in the 3rd test.
fivepointer wrote: ↑Mon Dec 12, 2022 10:02 am
Another excellent win. A really fine all round team effort, brilliantly led by Stokes. I'd cut Leach a bit of slack. He isnt Shane Warne but 5 wickets in the game isnt a bad return on a pitch that didnt offer extravagant turn. I wouldnt play the young leggy in the 3rd test.
Trouble is that he’s shipping runs. But not sure who won’t!
Puja wrote: ↑Mon Dec 12, 2022 8:36 am
Great win, but the closeness is more proof that Leach is not up to the top level. Worth using the last test to give the youngster a twirl?
Puja
The leggy? Agreed on leach (though 4 wickets 1st innings and a better economy rate than the Pakistani spinners), a shame cos clearly a good team guy, but there isn't a host of obvious replacements. I'd also add that this wickets got flatter if anything during the game- batting got easier, even against spin. I'd be trying to get Rashid interested in test cricket again.
When Root is getting better figures than you...I like Leach, too, but it's not good enough.
Puja wrote: ↑Mon Dec 12, 2022 8:36 am
Great win, but the closeness is more proof that Leach is not up to the top level. Worth using the last test to give the youngster a twirl?
Puja
The leggy? Agreed on leach (though 4 wickets 1st innings and a better economy rate than the Pakistani spinners), a shame cos clearly a good team guy, but there isn't a host of obvious replacements. I'd also add that this wickets got flatter if anything during the game- batting got easier, even against spin. I'd be trying to get Rashid interested in test cricket again.
When Root is getting better figures than you...I like Leach, too, but it's not good enough.
That's basically it in a nutshell. Root has looked significantly more dangerous and he's a part timer.
I don't know much about the young leggy (other than he's someone to look out for for the future), but we do need to do something about our spin options. Banquo's probably right that the answer is to send an emissary to Rashid. With the way the team is playing, you'd've thought he could be persuaded - it's hardly traditional dour spin bowling that'd be asked of him.
