England have no regrets over the aggressive approach to their run chase despite being spun to a resounding defeat by Pakistan in the second Test, insist Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
The visitors came into day four believing in another record-breaking chase of their captain and coach’s regime but were soundly beaten – bowled out before lunch for just 144, with a 152-run defeat levelling the three-match series.
Pakistan exclusively bowled spin – and only two bowlers (Noman 8-46, Sajid 2-93) – on a turning, “ninth-day” Multan pitch, but England stuck to the method that has epitomised the Bazball era, with their fourth innings littered with wickets coming off aggressive shots.
But Stokes, who top scored for England with 37 off 36 balls and was dismissed while coming down the ground and losing his bat, says that style was the “only way” they were going to stand a chance.
“Obviously it was going to be a massive task for us, because of how much is going on in the wicket,” England’s captain told Sky Sports Cricket. “We knew that chasing a total (297) down we had to go out there with a method as individuals and as a batting unit.
“I think if you look at the guys who had success in this Test match, like Ben Duckett (114 in first innings), it was the guys that looked to put spin under pressure by basically getting your broom out, a lot of reverse sweeps, a lot of sweeps.
“It was incredibly tough conditions to try and eek that out. You always felt like there was one ball with your name on it – I was stood at slip when we were bowling and as soon as a batter tried to defend, you felt like you were massively in the game.
“For us, it was about chasing that total down – but 200 would have been tough to chase on this pitch.
“The way we took the game on today was the only way we were going to get close to winning.”
McCullum echoed Stokes comments, claiming other routes were “nigh-on impossible”.
“290, on a ninth-day surface against spinners that know how to bowl in these conditions, was always going to be a difficult proposition. The method of sweeping and reverse sweeping and trying to put some pressure on the opposition was really the only way,” the coach said.
“We weren’t able to get there and we lost a few wickets with that method, but we saw in this Test that if you tried to sit in then it was nigh-on impossible.”
The deciding third Test takes place in Rawalpindi, live on Sky Sports Cricket from Thursday, October 24.
‘No problems with the pitch’
It was ultimately no surprise to see the Multan pitch eventually start cracking and turning, but – while highlighting how crucial the toss was – England say they have no problems with the controversial decision to run it in back-to-back Tests.
“I don’t mind it, actually – I quite like the quirk of it,” said McCullum. “When you’re playing at home, you should have home advantage.
“I guess after the first Test match, we were able to go 1-0 up, something had to give, and they took a punt on it. I don’t have a problem with it at all.”
Stokes added: “It was always going to be a big toss. We turned up here on a ‘day six’ pitch before a ball had been bowled but we felt like we were still in the game and could chase that down.
“You have to give credit to Pakistan with the way they played, they put a good score on the board. We lost some quick wickets at the end of day two, and that’s when I thought the pitch started reacting a lot different. When you’re ahead of the game like Pakistan were, you can really start to put your foot down.”
‘Tired, grumpy old man’ Stokes apologised to team
Although England’s Friday-morning collapse was stark, their match arguably unravelled on day three when two dropped catches in an over proved costly, with Salman Agha (63) eventually propelling Pakistan to a strong target.
Stokes nodded to the drops being pivotal, and revealed that he apologised to his team after becoming visibly frustrated in the field during that period.
“No one means to drop catches but it just proves how important catches are in these sub-continent conditions, they don’t come along that often,” Stokes explained to Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain and Ian Ward.
“I actually apologised to the group last night as you’re right, it’s the first time in my captaincy that I’ve let my emotions and how I was feeling with the way the game was unfolding show in my body language.
“I owned up to that and was very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It’s something that I don’t want to do or be seen to be doing so I apologised to the group about that.
“Poor old me, I was a tired grumpy old man last night! You won’t see that happen again.”
Sky Sports pundits on heavy England defeat
Nasser Hussain
“I thought that we’d be here after lunch but you knew there was only one way they were going to play, they were going to play shots. England live by the sword and die by the sword, they were never going to try and ground out a score. Once you get lower order and tailenders batting against this quality spin, you’re always going to struggle.
“There was always a chance (of the match ending quickly) on that pitch, the heat baking down on it, on day nine.
“It changed around about day two of this match, even when Duckett was going through that fabulous 100, there were deliveries he played that were bouncing up and hitting him on the shoulder. It was only hidden by him playing so well.
“Since then, spin has absolutely dominated and today, once they lost one or two, you could see starting against that ball spinning and bouncing was always going to be very hard work.”
Michael Atherton
“It’s a big moment for Pakistan, a proud nation that have been without a win for a long, long time.
“Well done to them. Their gamble well and truly paid off… they put their chips all in on spin and they shared those 20 wickets.
“It will lift cricket here, and certainly lift this team and their captain – Shan Masood was on a losing streak of six Tests. That buys him a little bit of time.
“Whether they can replicate these conditions for the third Test in Rawalpindi will be fascinating.”
First Test: Multan – October 7-11 – England won by an innings and 47 runs
Second Test: Multan – October 15-19 – Pakistan won by 152 runs
Third Test: Rawalpindi – October 24-28
Watch the third and final Test between Pakistan and England live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 5.30am ahead of the first ball at 6am on Thursday, October 24 as the sides head to Rawalpindi.
