Pakistan 344 (Shakeel 134, Sajid 48*, Noman 45, Rehan 4-66, Bashir 3-129) and 37 for 1 (Masood 23*) batting England 267 (Smith 89, Duckett 52, Sajid 6-128, Noman 3-88) and 112 (Root 33, Noman 6-42, Sajid 4-69) by nine wickets

The wait is finally over. For the first time since 2021, Pakistan won a Test series at home, overcoming a 1-0 deficit to confirm a 2-1 win over England.

The third day of the third and decisive Test in Rawalpindi saw a comprehensive nine-wicket victory before lunch, achieved with so little fanfare that England’s victory by an innings in the opening game felt like it belonged to a whole other series. It is only the second time in a row that Pakistan have caught up and the first time they have done so on home soil.

Before Masood ran away with Abdullah Shafique, Noman and Sajid had done so hand in hand, basking in the glory of bringing about England’s collapse on the third day, with the last seven wickets falling for just 46, and the fact that their introductions turned the series on its head. Since being added to the squad after the tourists took a 1-0 lead, they have managed 39 wickets between them – Noman’s left-arm spin scored 20 at 13.85, Sajid’s off-breaks 19 at 21.01.

And yet things started quite quietly for England. They started Saturday 24 for 3 trailing by 53, but in Root and Brook they had two batters who could erase that deficit and then some.

As Brook began the 13th over by beating Sajid for successive four-man attacks – first through cover, then across the halfway line in attack – the more pessimistic Pakistan fans might have wondered whether the Yorkshire pair were about to get into another game would. Tipping partnership. After all, it was these two who scored a total of 454 points in the first Test in Multan.

However, that was before Sajid and Noman joined the show. And after the former adjusted his line to keep Brook honest, the latter followed a slow attack with a much faster one that fell into the hands of Mohammad Rizwan late on. Pakistan’s lead had been reduced to 11 but the first domino had fallen. Others duly followed.

Stokes’ problems with spin continued and inexplicably led to a direct throw from Noman, expecting the ball to turn over the wicket, but it never came. Jamie Smith’s attack on Sajid was almost as bad as he was bowled off stump with a wild swing that belied the sensitivity he had shown with a punishing 89 in the first innings.

Just four balls after Smith’s dismissal, England took the lead and any hopes of extending that in any meaningful way ended when Root was caught by a pearler from Noman for a lead of eight. Perfect dip on a length to pull the right-hander forward around the wicket before he had just enough spin – it was a performance the 38-year-old had served up a few times before, but only Root was good enough to to meet him. A

Sajid moved in to cut off the tail, Yorking Gus Atkinson before hitting back Rehan Ahmed’s leg stump for his second 10-wicket haul of the match. And it looked like he had scored a second fiver in the match when Shoaib Bashir was adjudged lbw on the sweep.

A cursory DRS check returned a positive result for the No.11 as the impact on the pad occurred outside the off-stump. The reprieve only yielded two extra runs as Noman caught Leach as he missed the attack and fired a shot past the advancing left-hander, who was deftly overpowered by Rizwan.

A lead of 35 was always going to be easy work on a pitch that was anything but demonic, but it was Masood’s introduction that ensured the formalities were completed within 3.1 overs. Ayub started the chase with a four-goal brace at the end of the first period before Leach pinned him in front, which was confirmed via DRS after another erroneous call from referee Sharfuddoula.

But even his dismissal was the icing on the cake as Masood stormed the team over the finish line to his first series win as captain. Having started his reign with six consecutive defeats before the second Test of this series, it was hard to deny him this honour.