Chris Woakes hit an unbeaten 84 as England came from behind to beat Pakistan by three wickets in the first Test at Old Trafford on Saturday.
England were struggling in pursuit of a victory target of 277 after collapsing to 117/5 on the fourth day.
But man-of-the-match Woakes, who had helped drag England back into this contest with 2/11 in just five overs late Friday, and fellow World Cup winner Jos Buttler turned the tide with a stand of 139.
Watch: From Pakistan’s impressive start to England’s sensational run-chase, highlights of first Test
“It was a brilliant chase,” said England captain Joe Root at the presentation ceremony.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the lads. That partnership with Woakesy and Jos was magnificent. One thing you can never doubt in our dressing room is the character. I am really proud and pleased that has shone through today.”
At the start of day four, Pakistan resumed on 137/8 and added a quickfire 32 runs before being bowled out for 169. As it turned out, the target wouldn’t be enough.
Victory meant England had won an opening Test for the first time in six series.
Defeat was tough on Yasir, who took eight wickets in the match.
Wicketkeeper Buttler had a poor game in the field, twice missing Shan Masood on 45 during the Pakistan opener’s 156 that was instrumental in leaving England with a first-innings deficit of over a hundred runs. But he turned it around in spectacular fashion, underlining his importance to the side.
Earlier, Broad finished with figures of 3/37, taking his tally to six in the match, and there were also two wickets apiece for Woakes and Ben Stokes, who both had figures of 2/11. Stokes’ breakthroughs on day three were crucial given he was not expected to bowl in the match.
Pakistan scored 326 in its first innings before dismissing England for 219.
The second of the three tests starts Thursday at Southampton and Pakistan have to find inspiration to overcome this heartbreak, while England would look to continue their red-hot streak under Joe Root’s captaincy.
Here’s how the cricket community reacted to the match on Twitter:
6 - @englandcricket have now won 6 Test matches in a row under Joe Root's captaincy; the longest run of his reign as skipper. Habit. #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/eTVUp170lW
— OptaJim (@OptaJim) August 8, 2020
England & Pakistan are the best 2 teams to follow in World cricket ... Never ever quite know what to expect ... but it makes them both very exciting to watch ... #TestCricket #OnOn
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) August 8, 2020
Test cricket is king 👑 #PakvsEng
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) August 8, 2020
Self Belief 💯
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) August 9, 2020
Challenger Spirit ✅
Play Bold Attitude 👊🏻
England fought back and how! A Test match where both batsmen and bowlers had a remarkable outing.#PlayBold #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/TsrFwkXpk8
For someone who was heavily criticised the entire test,this is some redemption? #JosButtler For Pakistan too many runs given away,not consistent enough with the ball & not seen any reverse swing yet,something Amir and Wahab were brilliant at.. #ENGvPAK
— zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial) August 8, 2020
Pakistan Cricket - 68 years of winning when you don't expect them to and losing from positions where you would expect them to win #EngvPak #Cricket
— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) August 8, 2020
Great Test match #ENGvPAK Thought was @TheRealPCB ‘s to lose but the new found English attitude of being positive takes em home .. great game to watch
— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) August 8, 2020
Incredible day for him and England https://t.co/tp3uk043El
— Isa Guha (@isaguha) August 8, 2020
WinViz having Pakistan at 86% but then losing does not mean WinViz was ‘wrong’ - that’s not how win probability models work. At that stage they had an 86% chance of winning & the fact they didn’t underlines how well England did to fight back, not a flaw in the model. #ENGvPAK
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) August 8, 2020
One of the more underrated facets of this great run chase is the rate at which Buttler and Woakes batted. In the end, the dangerous Pakistan attack had just 13 runs to play with by the time the second new ball was available, and the game was pretty much done. #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/AWVzb23cXU
— Ajesh Ramachandran (@Edged_and_taken) August 8, 2020
This aged well. #ENGvPAK #Cricket pic.twitter.com/d2SX4xNbk1
— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) August 8, 2020
Test Cricket is the format which allows you to make comebacks after every obstacle you face in the journey. You may be down & out on a given day, but there's always another day for you to rise like a shining 🌟
— North Stand Gang - Wankhede (@NorthStandGang) August 8, 2020
This Test Match was simply ❤#ENGvPAK 🙌pic.twitter.com/oITKtKX3cV
That was nothing short of heartbreaking.
— Change of Pace (@ChangeofPace414) August 8, 2020
Getting through today buys the ticket to live Pakistan cricket's incredible wins.
Onwards.
What a test match! Well played, @englandcricket ! Congratulations to both teams for a superb advertisement for test cricket! Also, this needs to be said : a great test pitch. Well done all the grounds people at Old Trafford! #EngVPak
— Rahul Bose (@RahulBose1) August 8, 2020
Shadab bowled only 11.3 overs in the match. Something Yasir or Azhar could have done too. Not really sure about this 2 leg-spinners strategy. It'd have been better to play with an extra batsman [Fawad], seamer [Faheem] or a left-arm spinner [Kashif]. #EngvPak
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) August 8, 2020
Only if the Pakistan dressing room had a fly on the wall and you could know why they didn’t attack with Afridi and Yasir post tea! #ENGvPAK
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) August 8, 2020
I don't watch Pakistan for the high quality fast bowling. I watch them for the exclamations from the slips when the ball beats the bat. #ENGvPAK
— Snehal Pradhan (@SnehalPradhan) August 8, 2020
Day 1: Marvelous Babar Azam
— K H A Y A M (@KhayamSays) August 9, 2020
Day 2: Incredible Shan Masood
Day 3: Artistic Mohammad Abbas
Day 4: England wins
#ENGvPAK
Dear diary,
— main aap ki behan nahin (@shmyla) August 8, 2020
Lol, tumhay lagga tha tumharay naseeb main khushi likhi hai? pic.twitter.com/nE9vsZ8CW5