England seal famous series victory on return to Pakistan

England clinched a series victory with a game to spare in dramatic fashion as Mark Wood ran through Pakistan's lower order on an enthralling fourth day in Multan

Multan: England 281 & 275, Pakistan 202 & 328 - England win by 26 runs

Scorecard

England clinched a famous series victory over Pakistan on a dramatic fourth day at Multan.

Mark Wood claimed four wickets as Ben Stokes' men doubled the number of Test matches ever won by England in Pakistan in the space of a fortnight.

In a series so far full of twists, the ending to this Test was appropriately dramatic.

Saud Shakeel, in just his second Test appearance, produced a fine innings that had looked like leading the hosts to a series-levelling victory but, six runs short of a century, was controversially given out shortly before lunch to break the door open for England, who had struggled for most of the morning as Pakistan comfortably ticked towards a victory target that would have been Pakistan's second-highest successful Test run-chase.

He was aided by Mohammad Nawaz (45), who provided a valuable cameo from No.7 after Joe Root had Faheem Ashraf caught at slip early on the fourth day, which began with the hosts needing 157 runs to prevent England from sealing the series with a game to spare.

Shakeel never left his bunker, sitting in content to tuck singles off his hip and accumulate steadily, with Nawaz doing the bulk of the attacking. The left-arm spinner, brought in to shorten Pakistan's tail for the second Test, was an excellent foil, happy in his cameo to take on the spin of Root and Jack Leach.

^{Mark Wood broke the game open for England shortly before lunch (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)}

On a pitch that has flattened out since spinning prodigiously on the first day, England hadn't created many chances, but Stokes threw the ball to Wood shortly before lunch and set three fielders back on the legside as England resorted to a short-ball tactic with the new ball.

Within two overs, the game had swung. Both Ashraf and Shakeel gloved down the legside to Ollie Pope, though there was much debate about Shakeel's dismissal three balls before the lunch interval.

Referred to the third umpire by Aleem Dar to check the ball had carried, replays appeared inconclusive but Joel Wilson, with the benefit of replays, adjudicated that it had done.

Pakistan had entered the fourth morning with six wickets in hand after Shakeel and Imam-ul-Haq had compiled a 108-run stand to redress a top-order collapse to 83 for 3, caused by fine deliveries from Wood, Ollie Robinson and James Anderson, who produced beauties to clean up Pakistan's top three, none of whom were at fault for their dismissals.

Shakeel's demise, though, meant that Pakistan would rely on their tail - alongside Agha Salman - for the 64 runs needed after lunch. A flurry of those came quickly, with Abrar Ahmed, who has enjoyed the game of his life on debut, swinging 17 quick runs in chaotic fashion. He took Wood for 12 runs in an over, before clubbing Anderson at cover to give England an eighth wicket.

Zahid Mahmood was then castled by Wood, who bowled a typically fast, hostile spell as England closed in on a huge result on their return to Pakistan for a first Test series in 17 years.

When Wood finally tired, Robinson returned to take Zahid Mahmood's outside edge and spark celebrations among the visitors.