Sky Sports pundit Nasser Hussain reflects on how England’s stunning day against Pakistan provided a reminder of why Test cricket is an “unbelievable format”.
England claimed an unlikely first-innings lead of 267 as captain Ollie Pope declared on 823-7 on day four of the first Test after a record partnership from Joe Root (262) and Harry Brook (317), before reducing Pakistan to 152-6 to move to the brink of victory.
Ahead of day five, with play getting under way at 6am on Friday live on Sky Sports CricketHussain assessed a memorable day of action.
Pakistan haunted by mental baggage on unbelievable day
Former England captain Nasser Hussain:
That’s why Test cricket is an unbelievable format, because it tests you for five days.
You can’t switch off, you can’t drift away for half a session, and that’s exactly what happened to Pakistan.
The mental baggage of having to field for 150 overs and going for 800-plus runs, and then the mental scarring.
We spoke this morning about the history of their third-innings collapses, having their best player completely out of form in Babar Azam.
You get one, you get two and then all that mental baggage and scarring comes back to haunt you.
That’s why this format is so tough. You can be brilliant, 556 (runs in their own first innings), you can put in all the effort you want in the field, you switch off for an hour and the game can go away from you.
The game’s gone away from you because of how excellent England were. 556, nearly everything has to go perfect for you to position yourself as well as this after day four. They have done exactly that
England show ruthless side with bat
That’s one thing maybe this side have been criticised for with the bat, is that they’ve not been ruthless.
Forget the conditions and forget the pitch, it’s one of the flattest pitches that we’ve ever seen really, but they were definitely ruthless.
And in their own special way. How you can score 820 in 150 overs and still be ruthless? This side has managed to do that.
Duckett and Crawley bat the way they do, Root did not change the tempo of the way he bats. Of anyone who has got over 250, his boundary percentage was the lowest, which just shows his level of fitness and the nature of his ruthless batting that we’ve seen for a number of years.
The same with Brook. He could have easily got to 150 and thought, ‘you know what, I’m exhausted,’ and play some fancy shot and slog it straight up in the air. He didn’t, he never did that, neither of them did.
You have to admire their fitness but also their stubbornness to a degree. It’s a really good sign that this side, with all their attacking instinct, can go on and amass such a big score.
Carse impresses as England close on ‘incredible achievement’
England bowled better lengths. If you look at the wickets, they’re hitting a length hard.
I thought Pakistan were a little bit floaty, because maybe they’re used to reverse swing and getting full. These are fast bowlers bowling a heavy length, a hard length.
Carse in particular, you’d expect it from Woakes, we’ve seen it from Atkinson.
You want to find out about a lad on debut, and in that first innings he was used an enforcer, bowling a lot of short balls. Second innings, he was a smarter – because of the role he’s been given – bowling a fuller and harder length and bringing the stumps and the edge into play.
It’s almost gone perfectly. Round it off tomorrow.
I thought 3-0 out here last time was pretty special, but 556, to win from that position would be an incredible achievement.
First Test: Multan – October 7-11
Second Test: Multan – October 15-19
Third Test: Rawalpindi – October 24-28
Every match from the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup is also live on Sky Sports from October 3-20 with Australia aiming for a third straight title and seventh overall, and England seeking to triumph for the first time since the inaugural edition in 2009.
Watch day five of the first Test between Pakistan and England in Multan, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 5.50am on Friday, ahead of play starting from 6am. Stream with NOW
Fabio Wardley’s huge rematch with Frazer Clarke is on the epic Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol bill on Saturday October 12 live on Sky Sports Box Office. Book Wardley v Clarke 2 and Beterbiev v Bivol now!
