England’s Test captain Ben Stokes has stated he and his team have got no interest in playing for a draw. England won the first Test match against Pakistan by 74 runs at Rawalpindi on Monday to script one of their most famous overseas win.
A lot of credit for the win goes to the timely declaration in the second innings. England had declared at 264-7 after 35.5 overs in the second dig after setting up a target of 343 runs for the home team.
Stokes gave four sessions to his bowlers to take Pakistan’s 10 wickets in the second essay but then he also took the risk of losing as the hosts could have won the game.
Thus, Stokes dangle a carrot in front of Pakistan and his bowlers were able to grab their chance. Ollie Robinson and James Anderson took four wickets each in the second innings to skittle out the opposition at 268 runs.
Ben Stokes said in the post-match presentation, “Some of the things we can’t plan for is what happened to the squad before the Test. Seems a long time ago when we were running around to find players for the Test. Will Jacks getting the message three minutes before toss, and Pope getting the gloves. We’ve played 8-9 matches with myself and Brendon in charge. One thing we try to do is focus on ourselves and not the opposition. We know we’re a very exciting team. Was a great batting surface, so it was an opportunity for our batting group.”
He added, “Having the lads truck in like they did today was amazing. Really special group of players. We wanted to come here to Pakistan and carry on with our mantra of exciting cricket. I’ve got no interest in trying to play for a draw, the dressing room has no interest in playing for a draw. Felt on this kind of wicket, almost had to entice the batsmen to play an attacking shot. Today we were fortunate to get the ball reverse-swinging. James Anderson and Ollie Robinson were fantastic today. We won probably about 8 minutes before we would’ve come off. This is probably up there as one of England’s greatest away wins.”
England was bold and valiant and they were able to reap rewards for their audacious approach. It was a fine effort from the visitors and they would want to continue the good show.
Such an impressive performance will definitely give a lot of confidence to the team. The English team has adopted an aggressive approach in Test matches and Stokes as well as Brendon McCullum will be delighted with the result.
The second Test match between Pakistan and England will be played from December 9 at Multan.
