England vs Pakistan, 4th Test
LONDON: Younis Khan’s 218 in the first innings and Yasir Shah’s five-for in the second helped Pakistan ride roughshod over England at The Oval on Sunday to level the series 2-2.
With this win, Pakistan has levelled the four-match Test series 2-2.
Leg-spinner Yasir took five wickets for 71 runs as England, in their second innings, slumped to 253 all out, setting Pakistan a target of 40 runs.
Pakistan chased it down in 13.1 overs, with all 10 wickets in hand. Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali were unbeaten on 12 and 30 respectively when Pakistan completed the target.
In the morning session, Pakistan picked up two wickets including the key one of Moeen Ali as England were reduced to 194 for six at lunch.
Jonny Bairstow was the top-scorer for England with 81 runs.
After England resumed the day on 88 for four, fast bowler Sohail Khan had Gary Ballance caught by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed for 17.
Moeen, who made a century in the first innings, played freely from the start with Bairstow added 65 for the sixth wicket to give England hope.
But shortly before lunch Yasir Shah deceived Moeen with a quicker delivery and the left-hander, on 32, nicked another catch to a gleeful Sarfraz to give the leg-spinner his fourth wicket of the innings.
James Anderson was the last man to go, debutant Iftikhar Ahmed having him leg before on 17.
After suffering consecutive defeats at Old Trafford and Edgbaston, it was on Pakistan’s senior middle-order to fire in the final encounter.
And so they did.
Younis’s 218 was the centrepiece of Pakistan’s first-innings 542 all out. His sixth innings of 200 or more in Test cricket was a dramatic end to a run of low score.
The 38-year-old had managed just 122 runs in six previous innings this series, with a best of 33 in Pakistan’s first Test win at Lord’s.
Asad Shafiq, too, struck impressive century after he was promoted up the order. He got a pair in Pakistan’s third Test defeat.
The 30-year-old, who lofted Ali for two sixes and also hit 12 boundaries that featured some imperious cut shots, got to this ninth Test hundred when he drove Ali to mid-on for a single. He was finally out for 109.Asad and Younis scored over four runs an over during their authoritative 150-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Younis the warrior
1000-plus fours: Younis’s 308-ball stay on the crease included 31 fours and four sixes. With this innings, Younis’s tally of total number of fours hit in his 108-match career so far reaches 1,027.
Sixth 200-plus score: Younis’s heroics at The Oval was his sixth 200th+ score, making him stand at No. 9, shoulder-to-shoulder to with Pakistan great Javed Miandad, in the list of batsmen with most double hundreds in Test cricket.
32 tons: Younis, with 32 Test tons to his credit, is the ninth on the list of batsmen with most Test hundreds. Add two more to the tally, and he will find himself at the fifth spot.
9456 Test runs: Younis has so far scored 9,456 runs in 108 Tests at a career average of 53.72. He needs 544 more runs to have his name included in the list of those who have scored past 10,000 runs in the game’s most-challenging format.
Yasir the superstar
With a five-wicket haul in the second innings, Yasir’s career wickets tally stood at 95 scalps in 16 Tests.
The 30-year-old Swabi-born Yasir spearheaded Pakistan’s bowling attack by taking key wickets of Alex Hales, Joe Root, James Vince, Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad.
After the first Test at Lord’s, Yasir registered his name in the record books as he surpassed Australia’s Charlie Turner’s 123-year-old record for most wickets after 13 Test matches.
Yasir’s sixth wicket in his splendid six-wicket inning haul on the third day at Lord’s bagged him his 82nd Test wicket, one more than the Australian seamer. He became the first leg-spinner to achieve the feat in 83 years.
