Those who host at the second Test of the three-game Test series, Pakistan defeated Ben Stokes’ England with a resounding victory at Multan. Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah were dropped from the Pakistan Cricket Board’s roster for the final two Test matches after the team fell behind 1-0 in the series.
On the same track as the first Test, Shan Masood chose to bat first after accurately calling the toss. As they batted till Day 2 midday, the hosts enjoyed an excellent opening innings. As a result, Kamran Ghulam, who was making his debut, scored a century, and Saim Ayub and Mohammad Rizwan both contributed crucial knocks to the hosts’ impressive 366-run total. Jack Leach and Brydon Carse each took seven wickets for England.
The only noteworthy batting display for the tourists came from Ben Duckett, the opener, who hammered his fourth Test century. Sajid Khan, the bowler who helped Pakistan fight back, had a fantastic day with the ball, taking seven vital wickets. Masood and his team capitalized on their lead by scoring 221 runs and setting the Englishmen a 296-run goal with two days of play remaining.
After left-arm spinner Noman Ali claimed an incredible eight wickets, the visitors were unable to muster much effort, and England lost by 152 runs. Pakistan broke their home Test win drought since 2021 with this victory, which also preserved their hopes of winning the series.
The WTC final hopes of England are dashed against Pakistan.
The Men in Green, who moved up one rank to eighth place with 28 points and a PCT of 25.93%, respectively, have not advanced much in the World Test Championship 2023–25 points table. Pakistan has participated in nine Test matches this cycle and won three of them.
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England, meanwhile, is in ninth place with 93 points and a PCT of 43.06%. The Three Lions have made their last WTC journey more difficult with this defeat. The third Test match between the two teams will take place in Rawalpindi beginning on October 24.
Here’s the latest WTC 2023-25 Standings
Pos. | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | Points | PCT (%) |
1 | India | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 98 | 74.24 |
2 | Australia | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 90 | 62.50 |
3 | Sri Lanka | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 60 | 55.56 |
4 | England | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 93 | 43.06 |
5 | South Africa | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 28 | 38.89 |
6 | New Zealand | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 36 | 37.50 |
7 | Bangladesh | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 33 | 34.38 |
8 | Pakistan | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 25.93 |
9 | West Indies | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 20 | 18.52 |