England's slim hopes of turning the second Test around vanished on a sweltering Friday morning as they recklessly threw their bats around—literally, in one instance—and lost wickets, enabling Noman Ali and Sajid Khan to propel Pakistan to their first home Test win in 12 games and three and a half years. With England's openers already dismissed and 261 runs still needed at the start of the day, a successful run chase seemed improbable, and it quickly became impossible. Ultimately, England failed to reach even half their target, with Noman taking eight second-innings wickets, including seven on a frenetic final morning, as the tourists were bowled out for 144. Pakistan won by 152 runs, avoiding a series whitewash and setting the stage for a decisive match in Rawalpindi next week.
Throughout the match, England adhered to their assistant coach Paul Collingwood's promise to maintain their aggressive batting approach, aiming to score rapidly and pressure the bowlers. However, the frequent loss of wickets somewhat undermined this strategy. Pakistan made their first breakthrough with the eighth ball of the morning, as Sajid's spin turned Ollie Pope's defensive shot into a straightforward return catch, setting the tone for a chaotic hour. Joe Root and Harry Brook both fell to Noman, who finally received rewards for his quality bowling after Sajid dominated the first innings' wicket-taking.
Brook's 16 runs marked his first Test in Pakistan without a century, reducing his average in the country to 101.25. Jamie Smith scored only six before miscuing a slog to mid-on, where Shan Masood took an easy catch. Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse scored 37 for the seventh wicket, England's best partnership, featuring a pair of impressive sixes by Carse off Sajid. However, Stokes' attempt to hit Noman resulted in him missing the ball and inadvertently throwing his bat, which sailed to backward square leg as Stokes turned to see Mohammad Rizwan remove the bails.
Carse added another six before succumbing to Noman, whose wild hoik edged the ball to slip. With only six balls left to bowl, Noman sealed the match: Jack Leach edged one into his pads, looping the ball to Abdullah Shafique at short leg, and Shoaib Bashir pushed the final ball to the same fielder. Pakistan's victory was a result of their bold decision to play on a used pitch and field a team packed with spinners, a risky strategy that hinged on winning the toss and capitalizing on the best batting and bowling conditions. While this approach may not guarantee long-term success, it was the best option they had to keep the series alive.
England's team selection tried to cover all bases, but they might have regretted picking two spinners instead of an extra seamer, and vice versa. Ultimately, having lost the crucial toss, they needed all other coin-flip moments to go their way. However, they failed to capitalize on key opportunities, such as dropping Salman Agha twice while he was in single figures and then watching him add over 50 crucial runs, or when Ben Duckett caught Sajid Khan but had to drop the ball as he crossed the boundary, or when Saim Ayub scored the first runs of Pakistan's second innings by top-edging over the wicket-keeper and slip, or when the ball looped off Aamer Jamal's pad and just missed a diving Zak Crawley.
