Birmingham: Moeen Ali starred with both bat and ball as England beat Pakistan by 141 runs to win the third Test at Edgbaston on Sunday. Victory left England 2-1 up in the four-match series ahead of next week’s concluding Test at The Oval.
It also meant England had become the first team in 114 years of Test cricket at Edgbaston to win after conceding a lead of more than 100 runs batting first.
Pakistan, set a huge target of 343 for victory after England declared on 445 for six early on Sunday’s final day, were dismissed for 201. Off-spinner Ali sealed England’s win when he caught and bowled tailender Sohail Khan.
Pakistan suffered a dramatic middle-order collapse shortly before tea as they lost four wickets for just one run in 23 balls. Pakistan were 124 for three when their slump started, with captain Misbah-ul-Haq (10) caught behind off Steven Finn.
Sami Aslam had again batted superbly for 70 following the opener’s first-innings 82. At tea, Pakistan were 148 for seven, with Yasir Shah seven not out and Mohammad Amir 15 not out.
With all their specialist batsmen dismissed, the question for Pakistan was could their tailenders somehow survive the remaining 28 overs to hold out for a draw.
Pakistan were on the brink of defeat at 151 for nine when Amir drove Stuart Broad straight to Woakes at point.
But a last-wicket stand of 50 in 67 balls between Sohail and Rahat Ali kept England at bay before Ali struck the clinching blow with 13.1 overs left in the day.
Scoreboard
England (1st Innings) 297
Pakistan (1st Innings) 400
England (2nd Innings) (O/n: 414-5): G. Ballance c Asad Shafiq b Yasir Shah 28, J. Bairstow lbw b Sohail Khan 83, M. Ali (not out) 86, C. Woakes (not out) 3 Extras (b4, lb7, wd2, nb8) 21 Total (6 wkts decl. in 129 overs) 445
FoW: 5-282, 6-434
Bowling: Amir 31-8-75-2, Sohail 29-3-111-2, Rahat 21-8-54-0, Shah 43-4-172-2, Azhar 5-0-22-0
Pakistan (2nd Innings, target: 343): M. Hafeez c Woakes b Broad 2, S. Aslam b Finn 70, Azhar Ali c Cook b Ali 38, Younis Khan c Bairstow b Anderson 4, Misbah-ul-Haq c Bairstow b Finn 10, Asad Shafiq lbw b Woakes 0, Sarfraz Ahmed c Root b Woakes 0, Yasir Shah c Hales b Anderson 7, M. Amir c Woakes b Broad 16, Sohail Khan c and b Ali 36, Rahat Ali (not out) 15 Extras (lb2, nb1) 3 Total (all out, 70.5 overs) 201
FoW: 1-6, 2-79, 3-92, 4-124, 5-125, 6-125, 7-125, 8-149, 9-151, 10-201
Bowling: Anderson 13-3-31-2, Broad 15-7-24-2, Woakes 11-2-53-2, Finn 13-5-38-2, Ali 17.5-4-49-2, Root 1-0-4-0.
