Ben Stokes: This is special

England’s James Anderson (centre) celebrates with captain Ben Stokes (right) and Jack Leach after claiming the wicket of Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan in Rawalpindi yesterday. Pic/Getty Images

Fast bowlers Ollie Robinson and James Anderson took four wickets apiece as England pulled off an exciting 74-run win over Pakistan Monday in the first Test in Rawalpindi.

Anderson took 4-36 and Robinson 4-50 on a placid Rawalpindi Stadium pitch to dismiss Pakistan for 268, with the stadium floodlights glowing as daylight faded.

Ollie Robinson

Stokes's intelligent strategy

Skipper Ben Stokes was also active throughout the day, keeping unrelenting pressure on the Pakistan batters with close-set fields and intelligent bowling changes. He hailed the win as "special", figuring they had less then 10 minutes to seal victory before bad light would have been called. "I think it's maybe up there with one of England's greatest away wins. We've done something very special this week," said Stokes.\

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Leach traps Shah

Pakistan's last pair of Naseem Shah (six) and Mohammad Ali (nought) defied England for 35 minutes and 8.5 overs before spinner Jack Leach trapped Naseem leg-before, leaving England players ecstatic. The win - giving England a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series - embellished England's newly adopted "Bazball" cricket, an aggressive style taken from the nickname of head coach Brendon McCullum.

Also Read: Ben Stokes: Can't take Rohit for granted

Brief scores
England 657 and 264-7 decl beat Pakistan 579 & 268 (S Shakeel 76, Imam-ul-Haq 48, M Rizwan 46; J Anderson 4-36, O Robinson 4-50) by 74 runs

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This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever