There's no home comfort for Pakistani cricketers. They batted twice and still fell short of England's first-innings total in the first Test. The innings and 47-run defeat in Multan, with the 'ninth and final' wicket falling in the extended Day 5 lunch session, extended their wretched home run. (Match Report | Highlights | More Cricket News)
PAK Vs ENG: Have Pakistan Won Any Home Test Since Covid Era? Stat Check
For the time in Test cricket history, a team has lost by an innings after scoring 500-plus runs in the first innings. This was Pakistan's sixth straight defeat in the last nine Tests
After taking control of the match on the first two days, wherein they scored 556 runs, Pakistan wilted under pressure as Joe Root and Harry Brook helped England compile arguably the finest innings by a visiting team.
Root (262) and Brook (317) added 454 runs for the fourth wicket, an English record, to help the visitors take a 267-run lead even with the stand-in captain Ollie Pope declaring their innings at 823/7 on Day 4.
With little more than a day's play remaining in the game, Pakistan were in a good position to salvage a draw. They needed to bat some 90 overs. But the penultimate day's play ended with Pakistan reeling at 152/6. At one point, they were at 82/6.
A good Friday morning in Multan and overnight batters Agha Salman and Aamer Jamal continued to apply themselves, keeping the English bowlers at bay. But the fall of Salman in the 49th over effectively sealed Pakistan's fate.
What followed was Jack Leach running through an exposed Pakistani tail. The absence of Abrar Ahmed, in hospital due to fever, didn't help Pakistan's cause either. And Shan Masood & Co. could manage only 220.
Pakistan thus suffered their sixth consecutive loss and a seventh at home in the last nine Tests. And for the time in Test cricket history, a team has lost by an innings after scoring 500-plus runs in the first innings. Pakistan last won a home Test in February 2021, when Covid-19 was still running rampant, against South Africa in the 2-0 series win.
They have since lost home series against Australia (0-1) in 2021-22, England (3-0) in 2022-23 and Bangladesh (2-0) last month. Now, Pakistan are staring at the prospect of not winning a single home match in back-to-back ICC World Test Championship cycles.
During these two cycles, they did win matches in the West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and of course in Zimbabwe outside the World Test Championship.
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The second match of the ongoing three-match Test series will be played at the same venue, starting October 15. The third match is scheduled to be played in Rawalpindi from October 24 to 28. Both Pakistan and England are out of the World Test Championship 2023-25 final reckoning.
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