In Stats: The Stars of Pakistan’s Historic Victory Over England
Yasir Shah, skipper Misbah and also the batsman Misbah - players who stood out for Pakistan.
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On Sunday evening, the Pakistan cricket team scripted a magnificent win at the historic Lord’s Cricket Ground. The visitors emerged triumphant when, after setting a fourth innings target of 283, they dismissed the home side England for 207.
Though Pakistan are ranked one place above England in the ICC Test rankings, the latter were overwhelming favourites, given they were playing at home and were coming out of a 2-0 series win against Sri Lanka. In comparison, Pakistan hadn’t played a Test match in more than six months – and were coming into this series under the regime of a new coach.
The 75-run win was Pakistan’s third successive Test match win over England. Pakistan had defeated England twice earlier, first in Dubai and then Sharjah in their most-recent Test series. Though some would call Pakistan’s win as an upset, or a win against odds, a closer look at England’s results at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in recent times reveals that England haven’t quite been as formidable a force at the venue as they once were. They are winning Test matches for sure, but they are also losing Test matches which wasn’t the case in the years gone by. The numbers illustrate the story best.
England’s loss percentage at Lord’s is at an all time high currently. In fact, English cricket fans should have known this was coming if they were aware of their team’s results at the venue in recent times. Starting 2014, England had a 1-2-2 win-loss-draw record at the Lord’s Cricket Ground; the home side had lost to India in 2014 and thereafter to Australia in 2015.
While several players contributed to Pakistan’s famous win, The Quint looks at the two players who made the telling impact and highlights some important numbers associated with their performances.
Misbah-ul-Haq’s 114 in the First Innings
- Misbah-ul-Haq, aged 42 years & 47 days, became the oldest-ever captain to score a Test century. He broke the record held by Australia’s Bob Simpson, who was 41 years & 359 days when he scored 100 against India in 1978.
- Misbah’s 114 was his 8th century as Pakistan’s Test captain. No other Pakistan captain has scored as many Test centuries. Misbah broke Inzamam-ul-Haq’s record of 7 Test centuries as Pakistan captain.
Yasir Shah’s 6-72 & 4-69
- Yasir Shah ‘s match figures of 10-141 were his career best figures in Test cricket. It was the first time the Pakistan leg-spinner had taken ten wickets in a Test match.
- Yasir Shah ‘s match figures of 10-141 were the best match returns by a Pakistan bowler in a Lord’s Test. It was the first time a Pakistan bowler had taken 10 wickets in a Lord’s Test.
- Yasir’s 6-72 in the first innings were also the best figures by a Pakistan spinner at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.
Yasir Shah 30 in the 2nd Innings
- Yasir Shah
also contributed with the bat; the 30 runs he scored in the second innings
became his best performance with the bat in Test cricket. He batted for nearly
90 minutes and consumed 63 balls, and stitched together what turned out to be a
40-run partnership with Sarfraz Ahmed.
Misbah-ul-Haq – The Captain
- The 75-run win at Lord’s was Pakistan’s 21st Test win under Misbah-ul-Haq as captain. He is by far Pakistan’s most successful Test captain (in terms of number of wins); the next most successful captain for Pakistan are Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, who led Pakistan to 14 wins respectively.
- Pakistan’s win at Lord’s also made Misbah-ul-Haq Pakistan’s most successful captain in Test matches outside Asia. The 75-run win was Pakistan’s 5th Test win outside Asia under Misbah as captain.