Ollie Pope praised his team’s “two greedy Yorkshiremen” for batting his side into a winning position after England – having been powered to the mammoth total of 823 for seven declared by Joe Root and Harry Brook across days three and four – wrapped up victory over Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in the first Test in Multan.
“We knew if we batted like we know we can, we can go big and we’ve got two greedy Yorkshiremen and they did exactly that,” Pope said. “Credit to them for the skill they showed but also the fitness. The fact we knew we needed a big score really kept them driving towards those massive, massive numbers, and credit to them for putting us in a position to win that game. What they did was seriously special. It’s a great thing for us going forward. We know there are guys throughout the order that can put those massive scores together. We’d like to think as a batting unit that on another day, different guys will step up.”
Root scored 262 and Brook 317, their partnership shattering England’s all-time record by contributing 454 towards their total, as England made Pakistan’s first-innings score of 556 appear distinctly underwhelming and took control of the game.
“It probably hasn’t sunk in what we’ve achieved there,” said Chris Woakes. “I was out there when we reached 800 and I was just like, ‘This doesn’t seem real, to be scoring 800 in a Test match.’ I’ve never seen us getting anywhere near. We conceded 550 first innings and you think, ‘God, they’ve got a good score.’ But they always say until two teams have batted, you can’t tell what the pitch is like. You’re still disappointed for a team to score 550 against you, but in hindsight they were under par.”
Playing his first away Test in two and a half years, Woakes was the most economical bowler on either side, and took two vital wickets. “I didn’t think I was going to get another opportunity to do this. I’d given up on it,” he said.
Having somehow conjured a result from a lifeless pitch, England are now hoping to be served up something different when the second Test starts at the same venue on Tuesday. “There was talk about green surfaces, I don’t know what that was. It just got better and better,” Woakes said. “The ball is firmly in their court. When it’s a home series, it’s only three matches and you lose the first, you’d like to think that the next two are going to be results wickets.”
Defeat continued Shan Masood’s woeful record as Pakistan captain, after six games and six defeats in nearly a year in charge. “The harsh reality is that England found a way, and we didn’t,” he said. “After two days being under the sun, being 556 runs behind, firstly they picked up 10 wickets to give themselves that chance to bat and bat big and then, when they came back with the ball again, they executed their plans really well. So the harsh reality in Test cricket is that no matter what the pitch is, quality sides will find a way, and England did that.”
