Noman Ali and Sajid Khan brought Pakistan back to life in the ongoing Test series against England. The spin twins pocketed all 20 English wickets to hand Pakistan a series-levelling 152-run win in Multan on Friday.
Left-arm spinner Ali took 8-46 to finish with a match haul of 11 wickets and England was bowled out for 144 inside the first session on Day 4 on a tailor-made dry wicket. Off-spinner Khan took 2-93 to go with his 7-111 in the first innings as both spinners bowled unchanged and ran through the tourists’ batting lineup after Pakistan had set up a daunting target of 297 runs.
This was the first instance since 1972 when two bowlers picked up all 20 wickets in a Test match. Previously for Pakistan, the pair of Fazal Mahmood and Khan Mohammad pocketed all 20 wickets in a Test match, against Australia in 1956 in Karachi.
Two bowlers taking all 20 wickets in a Test match
- Monty Noble (13) & Hugh Trumble (7) vs ENG, Melbourne, 1902
- Colin Blythe (11) & Geoff Hurst (9) vs AUS, Birmingham, 1909
- Bert Vogler (12) & Aubrey Faulkner (8) vs ENG, Jo’burg, 1910
- Jim Laker (19) & Tony Lock (1) vs AUS, Manchester, 1956
- Fazal Mahmood (13) & Khan Mohammad (7) vs AUS, Karachi, 1956
- Bob Massie (16) & Denis Lillee (4) vs ENG, Lord’s, 1972
- Sajid Khan (9) & Noman Ali (11) vs ENG, Multan, 2024
First Test win for Captain Shan Masood
The win was the first for captain Shan Masood, who lost six tests in a row since being elevated as red-ball skipper last year. It also ended Pakistan’s winless 11-match home run that included four losses against England.
Pakistan’s last home test win came against South Africa in early 2021. Since, besides losing to England, it also lost home tests to Australia and recently 2-0 to Bangladesh.
“The first one is always special, after some rough times,” Masood said. “For the boys to step in, a lot has happened this past week, but we came up with a strategy to get 20 wickets and we made it happen.”
“Noman and Sajid are seasoned campaigners,” Masood said. “For Kamran, it’s never easy to replace one of the best batters (Babar Azam) in the world, but to get that century was special.”
Pakistan made wholesale changes to the squad for the second Test after losing the opener by an innings and 47 runs. Debutant Kamran Ghulam, who replaced out-of-form Babar Azam at No. 4, made an impeccable century in the first innings. The hosts gambled with spinners Khan and Ali, who haven’t played red-ball cricket for nine months, and it paid off well.
With the series levelled 1-1, the teams will head to Rawalpindi to play the third Test which begins October 24.
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