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England secured a brilliant 74-run win over Pakistan in the historic three-match Test series in Rawalpindi on the last day on December 05 (Monday). Courtesy of some exceptional captaincy by Ben Stokes, who manoeuvred his bowling options on a dull pitch without any bounce to perfection as the Englishmen broke Pakistan's resilience in the final hour of Day 5 to take a 1-0 lead upon their return to the Asian nation after 17 years.
Pakistan went into the final innings of the match with a target of 343 runs but were only able to get to 268 with less than 15 minutes left in the day’s play. This came after skipper Stokes took the bold choice of declaring at 343 the day before, showing his confidence in his team's bowling unit.
This unit was led by Ollie Robinson (4 for 50) and James Anderson (4 for 36) who shook off their first-innings blues to reduce their opponents to just 268 runs.
Stokes was absolutely chuffed after winning the game and lauded the efforts put in by his bowlers while terming the Rawalpindi Test victory as one of 'England's greatest away wins'.
"We wanted to come here to Pakistan and carry on with our mantra of exciting cricket," Stokes said after the win.
"I've got no interest in trying to play for a draw, the dressing room has no interest in playing for a draw. Felt on this kind of wicket, almost had to entice the batsmen to play an attacking shot.
"Today we were fortunate to get the ball reverse-swinging. James Anderson and Ollie Robinson were fantastic today. We won probably about eight minutes before we would've come off. This is probably up there as one of England's greatest away wins," Stokes said while reflecting on the win.
England lead the three-match Test series 1-0 with the second game slated to be played between December 09 and December 13 in Multan.
