Pakistan beat England to reach 2nd in Test rankings; England drop to 6th
Pakistan defeated England by 127 runs in the third and final Test to win the three-match series 2-0 and hence go up to 2nd position in the ICC Test Rankings. As a result of the disappointing series loss, England have gone down in the rankings to the 6th position.
Resuming the final day of the Test on 46-2 with two of their best batsmen in Alastair Cook and Joe Root, England were hoping for a good show from them to salvage some pride in the final Test of the series.
It just took Pakistan 38.3 overs to bowl out the English, who were not able to handle the Pakistani spin attack, for a measly 156. Pakistani spinners picked up nine of the English wickets while Rahat Ali picked up the other one.
Yasir Shah continued to perform well with the ball and trouble batsmen with his leg-spin as he picked up 4-44. Shoaib Malik did not perform well with the bat in his last Test, but he came up with a match-winning bowling performance as he picked up seven wickets in the Test match.
None of the batsmen in the English middle order scored in the double digits. Cook was the lone ranger for his team continuing his good run in 2015 and finished with yet another fifty-plus score this year. He was the ninth wicket to fall for England as he tried to carry his side to an unexpected draw.
In the two Test matches he played, Shah picked up 15 wickets to be named the man of the series. Legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne's advice seems to have worked out well for Shah as he constantly asked questions of the batsmen.
Mohammad Hafeez's century in the second innings was enough to earn him the man of the match award.
In the presentation ceremony, Misbah-ul-Haq did not give any definitive statement regarding his
On November 11, England and Pakistan will begin the four-match ODI series, which will be followed by three T20Is starting on November 26.
Interesting numbers from the Test match:
7/59 – Shoaib Malik's bowling figures for the match was the best in his Test career. Before this, his highest haul of wickets in a Test match was only four wickets.
36 – Zulfiqar Babar picked up 50 Test wickets at the age of 36y 330d, thus becoming the oldest Asian to do so.
1.87 – James Anderson's economy rate this Test series is the best in his Test career.