Ali and Khan again spin out England to earn Pakistan's series-clinching 9-wicket win in 3rd test

RAWALPINDI: Spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan suppressed England's batting attack inside three days and earned Pakistan a long-awaited and series-clinching nine-wicket win in the third and final Test on Saturday.

The 38-year-old left-arm spinner Ali and off-spinner Khan, 31, had grabbed all 20 wickets on a recycled second Test pitch to level the series last week and yet again clipped the batters on an engineered dry surface by sharing 19 wickets as England was dismissed for 112 on Day 3.

It was England's lowest innings total in Pakistan, eclipsing its previous score of 130 all out in Lahore in 1987.

Pakistan, which got a meaningful 77-run first innings lead, reached 37-1 at the stroke of lunch to notch its first home series win since 2021 when it beat South Africa 2-0.

Skipper Shan Masood (23 not out), who lost six successive test matches as captain before England got beaten in the second test, sealed the win with a six over long-off against Shoaib Bashir after smashing four successive boundaries to Jack Leach.

“It's special,” Masood said. “The first win came after a long time and it was backed up by a series win … it's about character. To be here and standing as the wining team, it's the most special thing for us.”

Leach grabbed the only wicket to fall when he successfully went for an lbw television referral against Saim Ayub, who made eight.

The win was a sweet revenge for the home team, which was knocked over by England 3-0 when it last toured Pakistan two years ago under the captaincy of Ben Stokes.

England's batting folded meekly against the spin duo for the second time around as Ali followed his three wickets in the first innings with 6-42 on a wicket which was dried out by industrial-sized giant fans and outdoor heaters.

Khan grabbed 4-69 to add to his first innings six-wicket haul as England batters couldn't negotiate the variable bounce and the turn Khan and Ali extracted of the pitch.

England won the first test by an innings and 47 runs before Pakistan succeeded in its ploy to reuse the same surface in Multan to counter England's aggressive batting and recalled both Ali and Khan for the remaining two test matches.

“Disappointing,” said Stokes, who missed out on England's memorable win in the first test recovering from torn hamstring, but returned to lead the side in yougher conditions for his batters. “We got thrown some challenges over these last two games and weren't able to stand up to them, credit to Pakistan.”

Resuming on a precarious 24-3, Joe Root (33) and Harry Brook (26) cut down the deficit to 11 runs before England lost wickets in cluster.

Brook got a thick edge when he tried to cut Ali and the left-arm spinner had Stokes lbw off an armed ball which the England captain awfully tried to leave. England was still trailing by two runs when Jamie Smith (3) charged down the wicket to Khan and had his off stump knocked over and England slipped to 6-75.

Khan then ended Root's grim resistance by finding the outside edge before England's tail folded quickly against the spin duo.

“The lads trained hard but when you get out in the middle it can be completely different,” Stokes conceded.

The 2-1 series win was Masood's first series win since he was appointed test captain last year, but lost six test matches in a row. Australia routed Pakistan 3-0 under Masood's leadership and Bangladesh recorded a stunning 2-0 win in Pakistan before England racked up record-breaking 823-7 decl. to hand Masood another defeat.

“We'd like to dedicate this (series win) to the people of Pakistan, who've been through a lot,” Masood said. “Hopefully this will put a smile on people's face, and hopefully we can have full houses.”