England spun out by Pakistan in rapid collapse as unusual tactic pays off

Pakistan's spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali bamboozle England to win the second Test match in Multan, as the gamble to play another game on a worn pitch pays off for the hosts

Pakistan's spinners made light work of the England batting line-up to wrap up a swift victory by 152 runs in the second Test in Multan.

England arrived on day four with faint hopes of pulling off a miraculous run-chase on a wicket which was spinning square. But after resuming on 36-2, needing 261 runs to win and go 2-0 up in the series, those dreams soon faded into the grim spinning reality.

Ollie Pope was out in the second over, gifting Sajid Khan a simple caught and bowled, and his team-mates didn't last much longer. England's batters tried to combat the extravagant turn by playing the sweep and reverse-sweep almost exclusively, but Noman Ali (8-46) proved too good.

Joe Root and Harry Brook - who scored a combined 579 runs between them on the same pitch in the first test - were both pinned lbw by Noman in quick succession. Jamie Smith top-edged a sweep high into the sky to depart soon after before captain Ben Stokes provided the comedy moment of the morning.

Stokes abandoned his sweep-only approach to charge down the pitch at Noman, only to miss the ball and send his bat flying high into the legside while Mohammad Rizwan completed the stumping. He top-scored with 37 but England really had little chance on a pitch that was on its ninth day of almost continuous play and suited the hosts to a tee.

Brydon Carse smashed back-to-back sixes down the ground to provide some entertainment before he edged Noman to slip for 27. Jack Leach was caught at short leg defending before Pakistan completed the much-needed victory by having Shoaib Bashir first ball as England subsided for 144.

Pakistan have now won a Test match at home for the first time in over three years. They have ended a six-match losing streak and eased the pressure on coach Jason Gillespie and captain Shan Masood, who went all in on spinners and chose to re-use the same wicket as the first Test.

After a long time in Multan, the two sides will now head to Rawalpindi for the decider in the three-match series. The match starts on Thursday, giving ample time to rest and recover, with Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson likely to come back into consideration, having been rested for this match.

England are unlikely to have too many complaints with Pakistan's unusual tactics. "I think if we went 1-0 down at home, we would probably be going to our groundsman at the second Test saying, ‘can we have a bit more of this and a bit more of that’ to use home advantage in our favour," Stokes said. It certainly paid off for the home team.