A magnificent partnership between Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes propelled England to an unlikely three-wicket win over Pakistan in a topsy-turvy first Test at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Woakes joined Buttler at the crease with England having slumped to 117 for five and seemingly sliding to defeat in its pursuit of a daunting 277 on a bowler-friendly pitch.
But between them Buttler and Woakes launched a superb counter-attack to turn the tide of the match towards the host with a sixth-wicket stand worth 139 runs.
In a final twist, Buttler was eventually out leg-before for 75 to leg spinner Yasir Shah with England requiring another 21 for victory, thereby reviving Pakistan’s fading hopes.
Stuart Broad was also dismissed attempting to knock off the last four runs but Woakes finished on 84 not out to see the host home.
Yasir Shah was the most successful bowler with four for 99.
Pakistan had earlier its overnight 137 for eight with 32 quickfire runs to be bowled out for 169 — a frenetic flourish that looked to have put the visitors in control.
Quick wickets
England had reached 86 for one in reply with skipper Joe Root looking in control, but four wickets fell quickly to leave it reeling in its attempt at the second-highest successful fourth-innings run chase seen at Old Trafford.
But, Buttler and Woakes had other ideas and went into one-day mode by peppering the boundaries to set up a thrilling win.
England was 252 for five in 77 overs, still needing another 25 runs for a win, with Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes battling it out with 71 runs each.
Scoreboard:
Pakistan —1st innings: 326.
England — 1st innings: 219.
Pakistan — 2nd innings: Shan Masood c Buttler b Broad 0, Abid Ali c Woakes b Bess 20, Azhar Ali lbw b Woakes 18, Babar Azam c Stokes b Woakes 5, Asad Shafiq run out 29, Mohammad Rizwan lbw b Stokes 27, Shadab Khan lbw b Broad 15, Yasir Shah c Buttler b Broad 33, Shaheen Afridi c Burns b Stokes 2, Mohammad Abbas (not out) 3, Naseem Shah b Archer 4; Extras (b-4, lb-5, nb-4): 13; Total (in 46.4 overs): 169.
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-33, 3-48, 4-63, 5-101, 6-120, 7-122, 8-137, 9-158.
England bowling: Anderson 9-2-34-0, Broad 10-3-37-3, Archer 6.4-0-27-1, Bess 12-2-40-1, Woakes 5-1-11-2, Stokes 4-1-11-2.
England — 2nd innings (target 277): Rory Burns lbw b Abbas 10, Dom Sibley c Shafiq b Yasir 36, Joe Root c Babar b Naseem 42, Ben Stokes c Rizwan b Yasir 9, Ollie Pope c Shadab b Afridi 7, Jos Buttler lbw b Yasir 75, Chris Woakes (not out) 84, Chris Broad lbw b Yasir 7, Dom Bess (not out) 0; Extras (lb-2, nb-5): 7; Total (for seven wkts. in 82.1 overs): 277.
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-86, 3-96, 4-106, 5-117, 6-256, 7-273.
Pakistan bowling: Afridi 15.1-1-61-1, Abbas 16-4-36-1, Naseem 13-4-45-1, Yasir 30-2-99-4, Shadab 8-0-34-0.
Man-of-the-match: Woakes.
England won by three wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Second Test: August 13-17 (Southampton).
