“Oh no,” said Stokes as he realised what was happening and the alert Mohammad Rizwan whipped off the bails for his second stumping of the innings. At short leg, Abdullah Shafique was forced to take evasive action as the bat flew.
Stokes was the seventh wicket to fall as England lost by 152 runs, leaving the series level and setting up a decider in Rawalpindi from Thursday.
Noman finished with 11 wickets in the match on his return to the side, with the other nine all falling to his fellow recalled veteran spinner Sajid Khan. This was the first time since 1972 that two bowlers have taken all 20 wickets for a team in a men’s Test.
They benefited from the use of the same surface as the first Test, which England won by an innings having racked up 823. Pakistan took a gamble with their selection, dropping Babar Azam as one of four changes, and won a crucial toss. The debutant Kamran Ghulam set up the victory with a century in the first innings.
Our verdict on each dismissal
England’s batting line-up fell in quick succession as they struggled to adapt to a turning, used pitch in Multan.
But was the pitch all to blame? Or did England’s batsmen get themselves out? Telegraph Sport assesses the dismissals:
Ben Duckett (0)
Duckett played brilliantly in the first innings, with the sweep key. Having been beaten by his first ball, he went hard at his second and got a top edge. Looked ugly, and could arguably have waited a ball or two longer, but that approach is what has made Duckett successful. NOT GUILTY
Zak Crawley (3)
Crawley is too tall to sweep easily and regularly, so does not have such a sound method in Asia. He tried to push Noman down the ground, but was done in the flight and stumped. Beautiful bowling, but there was little to be gained from the shot. GUILTY
Ollie Pope (22)
Might have looked innocuous, but arguably the worst of the lot. Pope, as fidgety as ever here, was bowled through the gate in the first innings, which made his soft drive back to Sajid ill-thought-out and poorly executed. Another done by Pakistan’s spinners slightly slower pace and driving against the turn. GUILTY
Joe Root (18)
Root is another prolific sweeper and he died by the sword, trying to get outside the line. He nearly succeeded, as his review revealed. Root was trying not to sit in against the spin and manoeuvre the field. NOT GUILTY
Harry Brook (16)
Brook had also been sweeping well, but opened himself up to danger by going back and trying to launch into the legside. He missed and was plumb lbw. This is a shot that has brought Brook plenty of runs for England, but was not the one on this slow, low pitch. GUILTY
Jamie Smith (6)
For the second time in the match, Smith skied a catch in front of square. He had played a fine slog-sweep earlier in Noman’s over, and tried a repeat dose. This one was slower so dropped sharply, fooling Smith. A frustrating dismissal, because it left Stokes with the tail and England staring down the barrel. GUILTY
Ben Stokes (37)
Stokes, who has struggled in spinning conditions this year, had changed tack, and was sweeping or reverse sweeping almost every ball. And it was working pretty well. From nowhere, he looked for a big swing down the ground and was done in the flight and stumped, with his bat flying miles into the legside. GUILTY
