England hammer Pakistan to level series

LEEDS: England won their first Test match since September as they thrashed Pakistan by an innings and 55 runs in the second Test at Headingley on Sunday.Victory, completed inside three days, saw England level the two-match series at 1-1 after Pakistan won the first Test at Lord’s by nine wickets. It was also England’s first victory in a Test match since they beat the West Indies at Lord’s in September last year, with the side having endured a winless run of six defeats in eight Tests coming into this fixture. By sharing the spoils in this short campaign, England avoided a third successive series loss after reverses in Australia and New Zealand.Jos Buttler’s blistering 80 not out on Sunday saw England to a total of 363 and commanding first-innings lead of 189. Pakistan then collapsed to 134, losing their last seven wickets for just 50 runs. Stuart Broad took three for 28 and off-spinner Dominic Bess grabbed his first Test wickets in a return of three for 33. England resumed Sunday on 302 for seven, with Buttler 44 not out and Sam Curran, unbeaten on 16. Curran, however, was out for 20 on his 20th birthday when he was well caught low down at second slip by Shafiq off man-of-the-series Mohammad Abbas, who took eight for 64 at Lord’s.At this stage, no batsman in the innings had scored a fifty, although Bess had made a commendable 49 in his role as nightwatchman to follow a fifty on debut at Lord’s. Buttler, dropped on four on Saturday when Hasan Ali failed to hold a routine chance at midwicket, soon altered that statistic.He went to fifty in style with two boundaries in as many balls off Abbas -- an extra-cover driven four followed by a hooked six. Buttler was missed in the deep by Usman Salahuddin on 66 and the3 very next ball saw him straight drive medium-pacer Faheem Ashraf for six. But with Buttler five runs short of equalling his Test-best 85, made on debut against India at Southampton in 2014, No 11 James Anderson was caught in the slips off Hasan Ali.Buttler faced 101 balls, including 11 fours and two sixes. Pakistan had been behind in this game ever since they were dismissed for 174 in their first innings after captain Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss on a good pitch but saw his batsmen struggle in overcast, bowler-friendly, conditions.Their second innings started in style when Azhar Ali drove the first ball, from Anderson, for four. But Anderson, England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker, knocked over the midle stump of Azhar, who made 11.Pakistan were 30 for two when Haris Sohail (eight) saw a hard-hit drive off Anderson brilliantly caught one-handed by a diving Bess at extra-cover.Pakistan 1st Innings: 174England 1st Innings (overnight: 302-7):A. Cook c Sarfraz b Hasan Ali 46K. Jennings c Sarfraz b Faheem 29J. Root c Sarfraz b Amir 45D. Bess c Asad b Shadab 49D. Malan c Haris b Amir 28J. Bairstow c Sarfraz b Faheem 21J. Buttler not out 80C. Woakes c Sarfraz b Abbas 17S. Curran c Asad b Abbas 20S. Broad c Abbas b Faheem 2J. Anderson c Haris b Hasan Ali 5Extras: (b8, lb13) 21Total: (all out, 106.2 overs, 469 mins) 363Fall: 1-53 (Jennings), 2-104 (Cook), 3-138 (Root), 4-200 (Malan), 5-212 (Bess), 6-260 (Bairstow), 7-285 (Woakes), 8-319 (Curran), 9-344 (Broad), 10-363 (Anderson)Bowling: Amir 23-5-72-2; Abbas 26-8-78-2; Hasan 20.2-4-82-2; Ashraf 20-4-60-3; Shadab 17-2-50-1Pakistan 2nd Innings:Azhar Ali b Anderson 11Imam-ul-Haq lbw b Bess 34Haris Sohail c Bess b Anderson 8Asad Shafiq c Bairstow b Broad 5Usman Salahuddin c Root b Bess 33Sarfraz Ahmed lbw b Woakes 8Shadab Khan c Cook b Curran 4Faheem Ashraf c Malan b Bess 3Mohammad Amir not out 7Hasan Ali c Cook b Broad 9Mohammad Abbas c Root b Broad 1Extras: (b5, lb5, n1) 11Total: (all out, 46 overs, 229 mins) 134Fall: 1-20 (Azhar), 2-30 (Sohail), 3-42 (Shafiq), 4-84 (Imam), 5-97 (Sarfraz), 6-102 (Shadab), 7-111 (Ashraf), 8-115 (Salahuddin), 9-124 (Hasan), 10-134 (Abbas)Bowling: Anderson 10-2-35-2; Broad 12-2-28-3 (1nb); Curran 7-2-10-1; Woakes 6-0-18-1; Bess 11-1-33-3Result: England won by an innings and 55 runs Series: Two-match series ends level at 1-1. Man-of-the-match: Jos Buttler (ENG)Man-of-the-series: Mohammad Abbas (PAK) Toss: Pakistan Umpires: Rod Tucker (AUS), Bruce Oxenford (AUS)TV umpire: Paul Reiffel (AUS)Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL).

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