The moment that summed up England’s hopeless cause on the final morning of this second Test came when captain Ben Stokes advanced down the track to Noman Ali, lost his bat at the end of his swing and was stumped. An empty-handed Stokes, with his bat somewhere behind the square, stood there bemused, his team 125 for seven and still 172 away from an improbable victory target of 297. England’s miracle maker trudged off having top-scored with 37, with defeat now only a matter of time.
It came not long after, Pakistan snapping their run of 11 home Tests without a win in dominant fashion, with their gamble to play this match on a used pitch paying off handsomely and setting up a series decider in Rawalpindi next week. Read Next Jamie Smith's worst England display yet will have the Ben Foakes ultras purring There wasn’t much more England, who claimed an innings victory in last week’s first Test, could have done here. The pitch was always going to favour the team who batted first and Pakistan, forced into desperate measures, reaped the reward for chancing their arm after scoring 366 in the first innings when the pitch was still good to bat on.
From that point, England were always playing catch up and as humbling as this defeat may seem, they will still be favourites to wrap up the series on what is expected to be a typically flat Rawalpindi surface for the final Test that starts on Thursday. England have been loath to criticise the state of a pitch that may yet receive a sanc.