It was redemption in every sense of the word. For an individual who should thank his fortunes that life has given him a second chance, but more so for a team that battles on in exile, proving one doubter wrong after the other, taking one challenge in stride after the other.
It is hard to recall Pakistan cricket - nay Pakistan sport - tracing a similar high in the past two decades. Even the 2009 World T20 win - also at Lord’s - pales in front of what Pakistan achieved last week.
And so one can forgive Pakistan for being consumed with euphoria when the first ball is bowled in the second Test match at Old Trafford, Manchester today. But that could very well be the undoing of any legacy the Lord’s conquest might be bestowed with by the historians.
The Lord’s Test carries a lot of significance on its own, especially owing to the illustriousness attributed to the cricket ground. But if Pakistan end up losing the Test series, it would tarnish the memories of the ‘so-called best spinner in the world’ Yasir Shah spinning another web for England, Misbah-ul-Haq becoming the third oldest Test centurion, Asaf Shafiq proving himself as possibly the finest batsmen on display in the match, Rahat Ali proving that he belongs among the finest pacers that Pakistan has to offer and Amir taking the wicket to win the match – and the now famous ‘military’ celebrations.
Misbah-ul-Haq's sweeps toyed with Moeen Ali, Lord's, 1st day
Pakistan's top order and fast-bowlers would need to do more to overcome England in the second Test match
Pakistan are now 1-0 up in the 4-match Test series, and need one more win to ensure that they won’t lose the series. But despite Misbah’s team doing wonders through their generally conservative approach, after the Lord’s triumph drawing the series shouldn’t be the ambition, despite the fact that it would have been considered a formidable result at the start of the tour.
The Old Trafford match will turn out to be decisive no matter what the final score line is. With neither batting side looking strong enough against the opposition bowling to post massive totals – Manchester’s infamous rain notwithstanding – the match shouldn’t end in a draw. This basically means that the odds are that it would either be 1-1 with England right back in the series and with the momentum, or Pakistan with an unassailable 2-0 win. The difference between the two positions is rather obvious.
Yasir Shah holds up the ball after his six-wicket haul, Lord's, 3rd day
For Pakistan to win in Manchester they would have to repeat everything they did at Lord’s and then add a whole lot more to it, if they aren’t relying on England playing as badly as they did last week.
The top 3 clearly need to up their game after their combined tally of 101 runs in 6 innings, 40 of which were scored by Hafeez in the first innings alone. Not many teams manage to win Test matches with none of the top 4 scoring a half-century.
While Misbah was the sole centurion on either side, Pakistan were guilty of throwing away starts. Younis’ giving away his wickets after playing 73 (33) and 95 (25) balls was very uncharacteristic of him, and he along with the top 3 would need to do more at Old Trafford.
The bulk of Pakistan’s scoring was done by Misbah, Asad and Sarfraz with Yasir Shah chipping in with handy runs at the end as well. All three of them need to carry their good form in the second Test with both Asad and Sarfraz needing to build on their fifties (and almost fifties) into bigger scores.
Yasir Shah took half of the 20 wickets that Pakistan needed to win the match. The fast bowlers chipped in with 9 (Rahat 4, Amir 3, Wahab 2), with one run out. With Yasir firing on all cylinders, the fast bowlers were the perfect foil for him. But Pakistan can’t expect Yasir to take half the wickets for Pakistan in all the Tests, especially in England.
Rahat taking the top 3 wickets in the fourth innings was decisive, and while both Amir and Wahab were unlucky in the sense that they could’ve taken more wickets, they did underperform as well. The pacers would need to share the wicket taking burden with Yasir, despite the fact that ICC’s newly crowned best bowler in the world seems to have England wrapped around his fingers.
If Pakistan’s top 4 batsmen and the fast-bowlers can be more productive than what they were at Lord’s, Misbah’s team have a good chance of inching closer to history at Old Trafford.
