PAK vs ENG 2022, 1st Test: All hail ‘Bazball! England secure famous win in Rawalpindi by 75 runs

England secured a famous 75-run win against Pakistan in the 1st Test in Rawalpindi on Monday. After declaring late on day 4 on 264-7, England gave a target of 343 to Pakistan to chase inside four sessions. Banking on the timing of the declaration – that now in English cricket terms would be called a ‘Bazball approach’, England executed what they had thought and defeated Pakistan to achieve a famous win.

This Test made headlines for a lot of reasons, however, what stood out of all of them is the famous Bazball approach that seems to change how Test cricket will be played.

England broke several records on day one of the first Test in Pakistan in 17 years. They became the first team to score more than 500 runs on day 1 of a Test, while with four of their batsmen hitting tons on the same day, also entered record books. Including a few more, they made Pakistan bowlers toil hard for wickets.

England ended their first innings on 657. Pakistan in return piled up runs too, courtesy of hundreds from three of their top four. With the first inning total of 579, the deficit wasn’t much. England in their second innings started from where they had left. Pakistan bowlers looked intimidated by the Bazball approach, which saw England score 264-7dec in just 35.5 overs at more than 7 runs per over.

The declaration looked bold on paper but England had a belief that could pull it off. Before stumps on day 4, they had already picked two wickets including the big one of Babar Azam. The next day, the final day saw drama further getting unfolded with both teams having almost equal chances of winning. After playing cautiously and putting a price on their wickets, Pakistan’s middle order was slowly cruising toward the win.

James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, however, had different plans. Both seamers stuck to their plan that helped them pick wickets at regular intervals. With incredible implementation and execution by the English bowlers, they wrapped up Pakistan’s second innings on 268 runs.

This win has given England a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series. The second Test is scheduled to start on December 9th in Multan.