Cricket lovers were made to eat their words on an early third-innings declaration as England impressively defended the 343-run target on a flat pitch in Rawalpindi.
Critics calling out England’s early declaration on the penultimate day were made to eat their words and heap praise as the three lions ultimately come out triumphant in the Rawalpindi Test on Monday (December 5) evening.
Head coach Brendon McCullum and his wards got fans praising them from all corners after being at the receiving end of criticism for declaring with what many felt was an insignificant third-innings lead of 342 on a largely benign deck in the first Test match of the series.
Despite the featherbed nature of the surface in play, England pushed their way to 10 wickets in an impressive overall bowling effort, keeping Pakistan down to 268 amid fears of bad light taking effect and leading to a draw.
Declaring their innings about 50 runs shy of what experts felt would be the ideal score to have enough cushion for Pakistan batting unit, England eventually reaped the rewards of being attacking under the scorching sun and came out triumphant by 74 runs in an absorbing finish.
Recognising the valour and bravery shown by skipper Ben Stokes & company, cricket lovers were seen showing praise from all corners as soon as the Pakistani resilience was broken through by the tourists on their way to a historic Test win.
The victory by a healthy margin was England’s first in Pakistan after 17 years and also only third in Test cricket history on those shores. The last time England won a Test in Pakistan was way back in 2000 but a return to the land of hospitality proved to be a blessing for them against the Asian giants in their den.
Here is how fans reacted in praise of the ‘Bazball’:
Bazball is here to stay for a long time. The ones mocking England when they declared need to come out and apologize. 🫵🏻
Your apology should be louder than the disrespect. 🙃 #PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/CjNmZL7hA6
— Gourav Pilania (@pilania_gourav) December 5, 2022
Interesting day 5 on cards in Rawalpindi aided by that Bazball declaration which was more about flaunting and satisfying egos and all, and hollow on sanity,Pakistan should play for a win here, 260 of 75 overs is highly realistic, should reflect poor of them if they go for a draw.
— Gagan Chawla (@toecrushrzzz) December 4, 2022
1877 : England invent cricket.
2015 : England reinvent white ball cricket.
2022 : England reinvent test cricket.#pakveng #ENGvPAK #BenStokes #BazBall #EoinMorgan— LSG 🏏 (@PeterParker7194) December 5, 2022
Wining in alien conditions is always special, England have done that in Rawalpindi Test match. #BazBall #PAKvENG
— Sher Khan (@SherKhan77) December 5, 2022
Credit goes to these two.👏#BazBall is working very nice for England and could be for others team.#PAKvENG#WTC23 pic.twitter.com/josgukVUav
— F.aLi (@FaLi_66) December 5, 2022
Bazball. #EngvsPak #PAKvENG #cricket #cricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/95NEivS2vl
— Mick (@staunnin) December 5, 2022
Test cricket at it’s best. What a finish in Rawalpindi !! Sensational victory by England in a dramatic way !! #BazBall at it’s level best. Great approach from @benstokes38 & @Bazmccullum & The GOAT @jimmy9 U R like an old wine. #ENGvPAK #Rawalpindi @mohsinaliisb @razi_haider
— Akash Dash🏏🏏🏏 (@Akashdash2000) December 5, 2022
Hats off to #BazBall on forcing a positive result on that road. https://t.co/Sl7qtYFuko
— iErr (@vivekiyer20) December 5, 2022
Incredible result for England in Pindi. What an inspiring, able and savvy leader they’ve found in Ben Stokes. Bazball’s batting style aside – Stokes’s captaincy, field settings, long spells post lunch was just brilliant. #ENGvPAK
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) December 5, 2022
Having promised at the start of the Test series to go for the result at any cost and from any situation, McCullum and his boys stuck their guns throughout the Test match wherein they batted aggressively from the word go and showed smarts and skills with the ball.
Those traits are expected to hold them in good stead as they now rally on the back of a 1-0 series lead ahead of the remaining Tests in Multan and Karachi over the next three weeks.
