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Given a firm pitch of decent bounce and pace, England's pace
attack exposed the vulnerability of Pakistan's batting line-up and they will
yearn for more of the same at Edgbaston and The Oval. They played Yasir Shah
with skill - 1 for 264 in the match, although much of the reason for that
rested with the captain, Alastair Cook, and Joe Root, the golden child, whose first-innings deeds took
the match out of Pakistan's reach.
If it had been the fifth day, there would have been an air of
tension as Pakistan's last pair held out with the floodlights burning, the
light fading and the sense of showers around. But England's task was completed
a day early, the debate over their decision not to enforce the follow-on with a
first-innings lead of 391 made entirely redundant.
There was a cloud on England's horizon, however, and it came
in the form of a torn calf suffered by Ben Stokes. Only just
back from a knee operation, Stokes broke down in the middle of his sixth over
and will play no further part in the match; he might play no further part in
the summer. A strong, raw-boned man, his injuries are piling up with disturbing
regularity. However, the emergence of Chris Woakes, seven wickets in the match,
will ensure the balance of the side is not unduly affected.
If England chose the conservative option by not enforcing the
follow-on, nobody could suggest their second innings lacked impetus as they
rattled up 173 for 1 at nearly a run a ball before the declaration - the last
75 in nine overs on the fourth morning. "Couldn't have gone better,"
said Cook.
Misbah-ul-Haq now faces a huge task to rally his side in the
nine days before the third Test at Edgbaston. When Pakistan's captain became
the fifth wicket to fall 15 minutes before tea - out for 35 as he jabbed a wide
yorker from Woakes on to his stumps - the edifice always looked likely to
crumble.
Pakistan, set a notional 565 to win, faced the demanding task
of batting for 11 hours to save the Test. That is longer than a full season of Game
of Thrones. The first hour before lunch did not go awfully well: two
wickets down already, with even the most ardent Pakistan supporter braced for
the inevitable.
James Anderson was a Lancashire lad in his element,
revelling in overhead conditions that enabled the ball to swing and an
excellent pitch that seems to have become harder and bouncier as the Test has
progressed. Shan Masood and Azhar Ali were pocketed in the 16 overs up to lunch,
Anderson claiming 2 for 13 in a masterful seven-over spell.
Firstly, there were formalities to be dealt with, namely the
dismissal of Masood by Anderson. It has become as natural a task as removing
the top from a bottle of milk. Masood is popped on to the doorstep as Anderson
awakens to his task and with a silent nod of thanks he helps himself.
There have been two ways to remove the bottle top: short
balls of tight line which Masood has deflected on to his stumps, or routine
outswingers. This time Masood succumbed to the latter, edging to Cook at first
slip. He has been out to Anderson six times in six innings now (in Tests in
which both have played) with no score of substance. There again, he is merely
following a trend: the last time Pakistan's openers reached a fifty-stand in a
Test in England was 24 attempts ago by Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar at The Oval
in 1996.
With Masood out of the picture, it was the inswinger that did
for Azhar, bowled tighter to the stumps and having the batsman lbw as he tried
to work him through square leg.
At such times, a batsman with a 50-plus Test average and a
penchant for marathon innings comes in useful. That batsman was Younis. But
Younis looked spooked by a pitch that is much bouncier than those to which he
has become accustomed in the UAE.
In the first innings, he danced across the crease to Stokes
as he fell to a leg-side catch. The John Travolta of the Test circuit was still
at it in the second innings, rearing his back leg as he received his first ball
from Anderson, and repeating in on several other occasions. Stokes should have
dismissed him on 3 but Cook dropped a sitter at first slip.
A quick chorus, in deference to Travolta, of "You're The
One That I Want" would have been appropriate and Moeen did just that,
defeating Younis in the flight as he sallied down the pitch to launch him off
the bottom of the bat to long-on.
Moeen evinces little threat but somehow the wickets tot up.
By then he had already removed Mohammad Hafeez, who had resisted in stately
manner until he was caught at short leg with one that turned and bounced. Not
many did that, but once again Moeen has probably done just enough with the ball
to retain England's affections.
Misbah is playing his first Test series in England at the age
of 42, a time when it should be almost impossible to adapt to the intricacies
of such alien conditions, but since the beginning of the series, his good sense
- both in his batting and as a figurehead for his team - has been commendable.
He bore his responsibilities gravely, resisting the pace bowlers and sweeping
Moeen with confidence.
But his departure made the capture of five wickets after tea
look a formality: After all, Woakes is carded to bat No 8 for England; by then
Pakistan are already down to Yasir Shah.
Sarfraz Ahmed departed in the first over after the resumption
as the slightest deflection off the glove gave Woakes a leg-side strangle. The
following over, Asad Shafiq, who had played neatly, fell lbw to an Anderson
nip-backer as England successfully reviewed.
That just left the dregs. Yasir fell lbw to Moeen as he tried
to pull and there was a brief appearance by Root, who added a wicket to his 325
runs in the match: two balls into his solitary over, Wahab Riaz's ungainly slog
sweep at a ball well outside off stump top-edging gently into the hands of Cook
at short fine leg. Mohammad Amir rode his luck for a while, but the rain held
off, Woakes once again revealed the knack of taking a wicket in his first over
(Graeme Swann-like, except without the gab), when Amir drove to mid-off and
there was no need to come back in the morning.
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