Published: Jul 18, 2016, 12:11 AM (IST)
Edited: Jul 18, 2016, 06:21 AM (IST)
Misbah-ul-Haq-led Pakistan team scripted a fairy-tale at Lord’s after a gap of 20 years, defeating England by 75-runs in the first of the four-Test series. The last time Pakistan won at Lord’s was way back in 1996, under the captaincy of Wasim Akram. This time Pakistan had a purpose and determination to perform well in a bid prove their detectors wrong — after the infamous 2010 tour, marred with the spot-fixing scandal. The pre-match hype doing the rounds had focused on only Mohammad Aamer, but the 24-year-old alone was not enough to get Pakistan across the winning line. Undeterred by all noise surrounding the match, Misbah and his men focused on getting their skill-set as a team and brought their best foot forward against a strong and unfazed England side playing in their own backyard. Vishal Mehra takes a keen look at the players who rose to heroes stature following Pakistan’s momentous win over England. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: England vs Pakistan , 1st Test match at Lord’s
1. Misbah-ul-Haq: The skipper lead from the front with a glorious ton in the first innings. Misbah, who was yet to play a Test in England, showed temperament, resilience and grit with the bat. Misbah, in his 114-run knock, looked unchallenged and unhindered against a fierce bowling attack. Apart from the fact that his bat did all the talking, what was excellent was his captaincy. Misbah knew when and where to place the fielder and was attacking all-throughout the match regardless of what the situation was. ALSO READ: Cricket, welcome Pakistan back: it is time
2. Yasir Shah: Pakistan’s very own spinning prodigy, Yasir Shah silenced one and all with his grand show. Yasir, who much like half of the team had not walked on English soil ever, came out as one of heroes in their win over England. Yasir rattled the English batsmen with his might and pounced over them like a hungry tiger, whenever the opportunity rose. Yasir, if not bettered almost equalled Shane Warne’s delivery to Andrew Strauss from the 2005 Ashes series, when he cleaned up Gary Ballance around the legs in the second England innings. Yasir had match figures of 10 for 141.
Yasir provided all-important wickets at crucial moments, which if not for him could resulted in England winning the match. Yasir not only shone with the ball but also displayed his batting prowess in the second time around he came into bat helping his team set a decent target of 283 runs.
3. Asad Shafiq: After scoring an elegant 73 from 130 balls & a 96-ball 49, Asad Shafiq has more or less cemented his place in the Pakistan Test side. Scoring against the famed English bowling line-up in their backyard is not an easy task. Asad’s ability to absorb pressure in the second innings was remarkable and showed character from the 30-year-old batsman. Misbah will be happy to see Asad demonstrate his skills in foreign conditions, which is always a hallmark of a good and nibble player.
4. Sarfraz Ahmed: Sarfraz Ahmed has always been regarded as young Pakistan’s most gifted batsman, but has not been provided proper stage to perform. Sarfraz who had a poor show in the two warm up games Pakistan played, did show a bit of belligerence in the first innings, and evidenced his real skills in the second. With Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad having their tail-up, Sarfraz braved out the spell and piled-up 45 valuable runs. Sarfraz looked much at ease and exhibited proper footwork which was required to play on English conditions.
Another trait that Sarfraz was good at was his motivation skills, which one could hear all over the stump microphone during the whole of Day Four. His constant cheering to the players on the field while nothing was happening is probably was one of the factors that kept the team going.
(Vishal Mehra is a reporter at CricketCountry, who enjoys his weekly dose of anime, and plays cricket once a white moon. His twitter handle is @capturethecatch )
