England achieved an extraordinary victory over Pakistan on the fifth day of the first Test in Multan, beating the hosts by an innings and 47 runs.

The defeat makes Pakistan the first team in Test cricket history to score more than 500 in their first innings and lose by an innings margin.

Pakistan, who scored 556 in their first innings before England responded with their mammoth score of 823-7, continued the final day’s play at 152-6, trailing England by 115, with Salman Ali Agha (63) and Aamer Jamal (55:7) shared 109 points -led partnership to initially frustrate the tourists.

However, Jack Leach (4-30) struck to dismiss Salman, trapping him leg-wise after the pair’s century took the deficit well below the 100 mark.

Pakistan struggled with a man out shortly after spinner Abrar Ahmed was rushed to hospital with a fever after missing the fourth day.

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Leach then took an impressive catch off his own bowling to dismiss Shaheen Shah Afridi (10) before Naseem Shah (6) was bowled by Jamie Smith as the left-arm spinner took the final three wickets despite Brydon Carse being a aggressive bowling did at the other end.

England take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, with the second Test, also in Multan starting on Tuesday, being relayed live Sky Sports.

Leach leads England to victory

Pakistan suffered another batting slump in the second innings on Thursday, losing six wickets for just 86 runs, essentially handing England a remarkable win.

Salman and Aamer both scored half-centuries during their stubborn seventh-wicket partnership that frustrated England in the early hours of the fifth day.

However, after being brought in to bowl, Leach made an immediate impact, hitting Salman’s inside edge with his fourth ball of the morning.

Salman decided to review the decision, a decision that came more from desperation than anything else as three reds were seen in the replay and referee Sharfuddoula Saikat raised his finger again.

Ollie Pope dropped Afridi to five at square leg as he attempted to take the catch backwards, but the error cost England very little in the context of the game.

Afridi hit a long ball from Leach straight back to him and the England spinner caught it sharply with both hands in his follow-up.

Naseem bowled Leach over long-off in the first six overs of the day, giving the home fans reason to celebrate, but when he came down the wicket and failed to clear the following ball, Smith brushed off his balls to seal the inevitable.

It is England’s fourth consecutive Test victory over Pakistan, having recorded a 3-0 series win in 2022.

Pakistan falls to new low

Pakistan have not won a home Test match since 2022 and have won just three of their last 18 matches.

Their best bowlers, Shaheen (1-120) and Naseem (2-157), were below par and could not reach their usual menacing pace.

It was the first time in their history that five Pakistan bowlers conceded more than 100 runs in a Test innings. The hosts had just seven wickets to England’s mammoth first innings score of 823.

Their former Test captain and one of their best batsmen, Babar Azam, was also in poor form, managing only 30 and five in the first Test.

The 29-year-old has now played nine Test matches without scoring a half-century on extremely batting-friendly flat pitches.

Not only was Pakistan inconsistent on the field, but there were a number of changes in its management as well.

As of 2022, the Pakistan Cricket Board has three chairmen, two Test captains and six permanent or temporary head coaches, with former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie being the current one.

And it wasn’t just the red-ball team that suffered.

Pakistan were eliminated in the group stage of the 50-over World Cup last year. It was the fifth time in the last six editions that they failed to reach the semi-finals.

They arrived at the 2024 T20 World Cup as runners-up from the previous tournament, but were defeated in Texas by partners and co-hosts USA.

The second Test begins in just four days, also in Multan, and Shan Masood’s side will be hoping to level the series ahead of the third and final game in Rawalpindi.

Masood: We have to learn how to take 20 wickets

Pakistan captain Shan Masood:

“When you put 556 on the board, it’s very important to back that up with 10 wickets and keep the game exciting. We didn’t do that.”

“If we take those 10 wickets and have England close to our score then the 220 runs we scored on day five will become a challenge for them. That’s the key.”

“We need to figure out as a team how the batting and bowling in the first innings will help us get a lead and hopefully set up the game. That’s something we struggle with.”

“As a team we need to improve our batting in the second innings but the most important thing is, like I said, to learn how to take 20 wickets. That is the challenge for the future.”

Pope: We knew we needed a mammoth score

England captain Ollie Pope:

“Thank you to the bowlers for the way they did their job. The fitness they have shown – and the same goes for Joe Root and Harry Brook.”

“We knew the way to win this game was to put a gigantic score on the board. It wasn’t just a lead of 100, it was heading towards 300. It was great.”

“It’s never easy being in that position, about 260 runs down… Even if you bat as well as you can and get 400 runs in that innings, we would still have decided to go for 140 or so. “

First test: Multan – 7th-11th October – England won by an innings and 47 runs

Second test: Multan – 15th-19th October

Third test: Rawalpindi – 24th-28th October

Every game from the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 is also live Sky Sports From October 3rd to 20th, Australia will be aiming for a third consecutive title and seventh place overall, while England will aim for victory for the first time since the inaugural edition in 2009.

Watch the first day of the second Test between Pakistan and England in Multan, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event on Tuesday from 5.30am, pre-match from 6am. Stream with NOW

Fabio Wardley’s big rematch with Frazer Clarke is on the epic Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol program on Saturday October 12th live on Sky Sports Box Office. Book Wardley vs Clarke 2 and Beterbiev vs Bivol now!