England pull of stunning victory
England clinched a historic series victory in Karachi on Monday, snatching a stunning win with just minutes to spare in the third and final Test at the National stadium.
Their six-wicket triumph makes them the first English side to win a Test in Pakistan since 1962 and ends the hosts' unbeaten record in 34 encounters in this southern port city.
In the fading light the match looked more like a one-dayer as the tourists chased the target of 176 runs in 44 overs.
Graham Thorpe hit two fours and a two off spinner Saqlain Mushtaq to take England home with 2.3 overs to spare, as Pakistani players appealed desperately against the light.
A small band of England supporters ran onto the field as Thorpe and winning captain Nasser Hussain jumped around with glee.
Thorpe finished unbeaten on 64 off 97 balls while Hussain remained not out on six.
Hussain said before the match that England was inspired, not daunted, by history, and predicted "something incredibly special" from his men.
"It's a stunning win for us and something we aspired for before the Test," Hussain said.
His bowlers created the chances by wrapping up Pakistan's second innings at 158, allowing just enough time for England's batsmen to seal the win in the afternoon.
At tea England reached 27-0, needing another 149 in a maximum of 36 overs with Michael Atherton on 21 and Marcus Trescothick on six.
But the innings began to look shaky as both Atherton and Trescothick holed out off Saqlain as they tried to boost the run rate.
Atherton, declared man-of-the-match for his high-class 124 in the first innings, miscued a sweep and was caught by Saeed Anwar for 26, while Trescothick was caught at deep mid-wicket by Inzamam-ul-Haq for 24, including three boundaries and a six.
Alec Stewart went cheaply for five, becoming Saqlain's 18th wicket in the series, and at 65-3 England were in a fix whether to play for the draw or not.
Thorpe and Graeme Hick then took the total to 110-3 when the last 15 mandatory overs count began, despite Pakistani captain Moin Khan's best efforts to slow the match down.
Hick hit badly needed fours off Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis to bring up England's 150 before he was bowled by Younis for 40.
But when England needed just 10 off the last three overs, the Pakistanis started hoping the heavens would open on this drought-hit city for the first time in years.
Scoreboard
Pakistan (1st innings): (Inzamam-ul-Haq 142, Yousuf Youhanna 117; Ashley Giles 4-94, Darren Gough 3-82).
England (1st innings): 388 (Michael Atherton 125, Nasser Hussain 51; Waqar Younis 4-88).
Pakistan (2nd innings):
Saeed Anwar c Thorpe b Caddick 21
Imran Nazir c Stewart b Gough 4
Salim Elahi c Thorpe b Giles 37
Inzamam-ul-Haq b Giles 27
Saqlain Mushtaq lbw b Gough 4
Yousuf Youhanna c Stewart b White 24
Abdur Razzak c Atherton b Giles 1
Moin Khan c Hussain b White 14
Shahid Afridi not out 15
Waqar Younis run out 0
Danish Kaneria lbw b Gough 0
Extras: (b3, lb5, nb3) 11
Total: (all out) 158
Overs: 70
Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-26, 3-71, 4-78, 5-128, 6-128, 7-139, 8-143, 9-149, 10-158
Bowling: Darren Gough 13-4-30-3, Andrew Caddick 15-2-40-1, Ashley Giles 27-12-38-3, Ian Salisbury 3-0-12-0, Craig White 12-4-30-2
England (2nd innings):
M.Atherton c Saeed Anwar b Saqlain Mushtaq 26
M.Trescothick c Inzamam-ul-Haq b Saqlain Mushtaq 24
A.Stewart c Moin Khan b Saqlain Mushtaq 5
G.Thorpe not out 64
G.Hick b Waqar Younis 40
N.Hussain not out 6
Extras (b8, lb2, w1) 11
Total: (4wkts) 176
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-51, 3-65, 4-156
Bowling: Waqar Younis 6-0-27-1, Abdur Razzak 4-0-17-0, Saqlain Mushtaq 17.3-1-64-3, Danish Kaneria 3-0-18-0, Shahid Afridi 11-1-40-1
Overs: 41.3
Result: England won by six wickets, (win series 1-0)
Umpires: Steve Bucknor (West Indies) and Mohammad Nazir (Pakistan)
TV umpire: Feroze Butt (Pakistan)
ICC match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka)
Mail Cricket Editor
