Pakistan skipper Shan Masood blames bowlers after terrible Test defeat against England, says ’cannot win matches if...’

Shan Masood-led Pakistan cricket team etched its name in the history books by becoming the only team to lose a Test by an innings after scoring over 500 runs in the first innings.

Despite Pakistan scoring 556 runs in the first innings of the Multan Test, England posted a mammoth total of 823/7 on the scoreboard and declared the innings. Pakistan, in the second innings, could only score 220 runs and lost by an innings and 47 runs.

What stats say

Statistics show that no team has suffered a defeat of this magnitude in the 147-year history of Test cricket.

Pakistan's defeat resulted from Harry Brook's first triple hundred (317) and Joe Root's double century (262), and their historically highest fourth-wicket partnership of 454 runs.

It was the first time since 1877 that two batters put 450 runs on the board as a pair for the fourth wicket. The previous record of a 449-run partnership is named after Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh of Australia, who accumulated the score against West Indies in Hobart back in 2015.

Apart from this, Brook and Root's 454-run partnership is also the highest ever for a pair in Test cricket away from home, for any wicket.

Earlier, it was 451 by Australia against England at the Oval in 1934.

Masood blames bowlers for defeat

After facing a humiliating defeat against England, the Pakistani skipper blamed the bowling unit for failing to deliver as per expectations.

Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Masood said, as quoted by NDTV, "We've spoken about the third innings or fourth innings, but at the end of the day it's a team game. Everything has its advantages or repercussions as a team. When you put up 550 on the board, it's important to back it up with 10 wickets. 220 runs in the third innings, depending on what kind of lead you have can also be a good score. England found a way to get those 20 wickets. We also have to find a way to do that. That's the challenge a side has to go forward."

“You cannot win matches if you cannot take 20 wickets in a Test match,” Shan Masood noted.

Before this series, Pakistan also lost two Test matches against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi.

But Masood is confident that his team will bounce back and find a way in the next Test match.

"We're in the middle of the series, we've talked about squad mentality and consistency. No matter how the pitch is, we have to find a way out. England showed that. Sometimes you get conditions in your favour, sometimes you don't. It's a non-negotiable of Test cricket to perform on a consistent basis. We love playing the game," he said.

For Masood, the biggest disappointment is that the team isn't able to deliver the results Pakistan deserves.

"We're obviously hurt by the results, hurt as a nation. I never try and shy away from responsibility. What hurts is that we're not getting the results that Pakistan cricket deserves. We are trying to turn it around," he concluded.

England vs Pakistan, Ist Test, Multan:

Batting first in the first innings, Pakistan posted a score of 556 runs, where Shan Masood (151), Salman Agha (104*) and Abdullah Shafique (102) scored their centuries. Also, Saud Shakeel (82) contributed to a great extent.

In the first innings, England posted a huge score of 823 runs after losing 7 wickets and declared. Thanks to Harry Brooks' (317) triple century and Joe Root's (262) double century, along with the superb performance of Ben Duckett (84) and Zak Crawley (78), England smashed multiple records on Day 4.

In the second inning, Pakistan were packed for 220 runs, thereby losing the match by innings and 47 runs.

With agency inputs.