In the second Test in Multan, England fell by Pakistan by 152 runs, unable to surpass their set target of 297 runs. Even so, England captain Ben Stokes, who is back from injury, kept his ground at one end with 37 runs at a run-a-ball pace despite the middle order’s downfall. But his innings ended in a farce, as he threw his bat in the air while going to hit a shot, in spite of losing his wicket.
Unfortunately, Stokes lost his balance on playing the shot, and his bat dropped from his grasp, leading wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan to stump him out.Stokes was the final confirmed batsman and the sixth English player to be gone. With his removing it, England need 172 runs to get to 125/7.
Stokes, who got hurt in England’s past series against Sri Lanka, failed to make the best return to Test cricket.
The efforts of Pakistan’s new players helped them win. Many attacked the decision to leave out Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, and Babar Azam before the match. All of them, though, performed well in the second test.
In the opening inning, Kamran Ghulam—who came in for Babar—scored a century. Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, both spinners, bowled England’s 20 wickets. With seven wickets in the first innings, Sajid was the main man, and Noman got eight in the second.
When Noman, then 38 years old, rejoined the Test team, he soon performed beautifully. He got 11 wickets in all. But after an incredible first-inning performance, the other bowler, Sajid, was named Player of the Match.