How do we cope with the shock and disappointment of a series whitewash at home for Pakistan? Lets go back to England’s last tour of our country in 2005 and revisit what happened in Multan, where Pakistan and England played their first test to kick off that series.
5-min read
A few days back, Pakistan hosted England in Multan for the second test of their ongoing three match series and narrowly lost by 26 runs. While a lot can be said and written about what went wrong for Pakistan in this match and the series, lets go back to a happier time and revisit what happened the last time these two sides met in Multan for a test match.
It was the autumn of 2005 and England were riding high after having claimed the Ashes that summer for the first time in almost two decades. They landed in Pakistan in late October and found themselves in Multan, which was to host the first of three tests. England had fond memories of their last tour of Pakistan, when in 2000, they had won 1-0 under Nasser Hussain. Hussain had retired by then, and Marcus Trescothick was to captain the side for the first test, which was to be played from 12th to 16th November. Pakistan, who had succumbed to an embarrassing innings defeat against India when they had last played in Multan in April 2004, were being led by Inzamam ul Haq, who won the toss and decided to bat first.
Butt, Trescothick & Inzamam
With all due respect to Ashley Giles, England lacked a match winning slow bowler in those days and the responsibility fell on the quicks – Harmison, Hoggard and Flintoff – to make inroads into the hosts’ batting. Salman Butt top scored for Pakistan and when he fell, the scorecard read 161-2. The tide turned after that as English pacers began to dominate, and Pakistan were eventually bowled out for 274.
England’s innings turned out to be a fascinating see-saw battle between bat and ball, but skipper Trescothick held firm at one end and compiled a masterful 193 to push his side into the lead. Useful contributions from Bell and Flintoff meant England ended up with 418 – a healthy lead of 144.
Pakistan started brightly in their second outing, and Butt was again in the runs, anchoring one end and scoring a century. Inzamam gave him company with his second fifty of the match, but Pakistan, who ended up with 341, would not have been the happier side as it meant England had been set 198 to win. Considering England scored over 400 in their first innings, the odds were in their favour.
The tourists lost Trescothick in a tricky 9-over session on the evening of day four and went to stumps at 24-1. The equation obviously still favoured England – they need 174 to win on day five with 9 wickets in hand.
The Final Day
Ian Bell and Andrew Strauss started the last day comfortably, and there was no hint within the first hour of play of the drama that was to follow. But just as the tourists seemed to be settling into cruise mode, Ian Bell edged Kaneria and things started happening. Strauss too fell to Kaneria in the same over, and a trademark Sami straight-on delivery trapped Collingwood in front. England suddenly went from 64-1 to 67-4.
Pietersen and Flintoff, heroes of England’s 2005 Ashes triumph, set about rebuilding the innings, but their nerves got the better of them and they fell in quick succession playing rash shots. The score was now 101-6 and Pakistan were in the driving seat.
Shoaib Akhtar then got into the act and produced two unplayable deliveries on either side of lunch – Ashley Giles was yorked in what was arguably the ball of the series and Geraint Jones played all around to an in-dipper. Kaneria and Shoaib shared the remaining two wickets, and England had been bowled out for 175 before tea. Pakistan had beaten England by 22 runs.
The Aftermath
Pakistan rode the momentum and went on to win the series by a comfortable 2-0 margin – their first home series win over England since 1987. In fact, England’s next two visits – when they played in UAE in 2012 and then in 2015 – too resulted in comprehensive series defeats for the visitors. Ben Stokes and his men have turned the tables this time around though, with a memorable series whitewash in Pakistan. And it was at the same ground – Multan – where they took part in another thriller earlier this month and triumphed by 26 runs to seal the current series.
Match Highlights
Highlights of this memorable encounter are available on the internet
Image credits: Twitter
