Pakistan v England - The thrilling conquest at Karachi

Whenever there is a cricket festival between Pakistan and England, the festive mood ebbs away and plethora of controversial incidents crops up in our mind. Over the years, the series between Pakistan and England have been heavily affected by various contentious matters which led to a strained relationship between the two nations, but despite so much of disputes, both the nation has scripted some of cricket’s epic encounters.

The majority of those epic Test matches has been contested on the English soil while in Pakistan, the story has been more about dull draws and umpiring controversies. Amid those non-cricketing matters and boring draw, the men in green do have some of the most titillating clashes with England on their home soil. One of them is the first Test match at Karachi in 1984 which was an alluring encounter.

In 1984, England landed in Pakistan to play a three-match Test and two-match one-day series. The English were led by veteran fast bowler Bob Willis under whom, England’s performance has been steady if not brilliant. Willis and his men concluded a miserable winter by following a 1-0 series defeat against New Zealand and they landed in Pakistan with the determination of bouncing back as because, at that point of time, England possessed a very good track record against Pakistan. So far, England were unbeaten in Pakistan for thirteen home Tests.

England boasted with players like Ian Botham, Mike Gatting, David Gower, Allan Lamb, Bob Taylor, Vic Marks and Bob Willis whereas, the Pakistan team was going through a transition period. It was already devoid of their ultimate weapon and premium all-rounder Imran Khan and batsman Javed Miandad due to injuries and the team was to be led by Zaheer Abbas.

Young guns like Rameez Raja, Anil Dalpat, Saleem Malik, Azeem Hafeez, Tauseef Ahmed and Qasim Omar were still trying their level best to cement a permanent place in the team. Pakistan’s hopes largely rested on the bowling skills of Abdul Qadir and an aging Sarfraz Nawaz while Mohsin Khan, Waseem Raja and Zaheer Abbas had a lot of responsibilities to weather storm of Botham and Willis.

The first Test was played in Karachi. Pakistan included two debutants in their side: Wicketkeeper Anil Dalpat, who became the first  Hindu to represent Pakistan and Rameez Raja, younger brother of Waseem Raja and became Pakistan’s second set of Test-playing brothers, after the four Mohammad.

The Karachi track was batting friendly and hinted about deterioration with the progression of the day. Keeping in mind the weakness of his batsmen against spin bowling, Willis decided to bat first as soon as he won the toss.

England exhibit a composed batting display

Durban-born Christopher Smith, who qualified to play for England by virtue of his English parents, walked out to open the batting with Mike Gatting. Sarfraz Nawaz and Azeem Hafeez took the new ball and generated movement of fresh pitch which troubled the English openers. But, Smith and Gatting were watchful and patient enough and handled the threat posed by the Pakistani new ball bowlers. The opening pair scripted a prudent 41-run stand. It was more about old-fashioned Test batting rather than modern day’s adventurous strokeplay.

Sarfraz and Qadir dent England’s resistance

Zaheer was seeking for a breakthrough and thus, he engaged his spinners pretty early. Zaheer’s move worked as Tauseef Ahmed broke the resistance of the openers by castling Mike Gatting. But that dismissal didn’t hamper England’s momentum, With Smith taking root,  David Gower carried on and shortly before tea England were 90 for 1. Both Gower and Smith had handled Abdul Qadir and Tauseef Ahmed with authority and the English dressing room was pleased with the progress of their team.

Sarfraz Nawaz made the old ball to reverse, a skill which was still a mystery to world cricket back then, and dismissed Smith and Allan Lamb in successive overs. Sarfraz’s quick dismissals opened the way for Qadir and immediately Randall was outclassed by a Qadir special: the ball spun back at pace into disturb the wood work.

England finished the first day with 147 for 4.

On the second day, Ian Botham and Gower were expected to bat for a long period and put England in a commanding position. But, Abdul Qadir and Sarfraz Nawaz were too hot to handle. Qadir and Sarfraz created a havoc as the last six wickets of England fell for just 35 runs. England were all out for 182 runs as Qadir took 5 for 74 while Sarfraz took 4 for 42.

Nick Cook jolts Pakistan batting line-up

The Pakistan openers Mohsin Khan and Qasim Omar started off confidently. Their strokeplay was delightful and maneuvered the strike to keep the English bowlers at bay. Bob Willis brought on the six feet tall left-arm orthodox bowler Nick Cook for a breakthrough and Cook jolted the Pakistani top order with an immediate effect. In no time, Pakistan were left reeling at 105 for 5 from 67 for 0. Mohsin, Qasim, Rameez and Wasim fell a victim to Cook’s left-arm spin bowling while Ian Botham was delirious after grabbing the priced scalp of Zaheer Abbas. Zaheer was out for a duck!

Saleem Malik’s fighting knock

Saleem Malik and Anil Dalpat arrested a collapse and hang around to finish the second day with 131 for 5. Bob Willis dismissed Anil earlier in the third day and at 138 for 6, Pakistan were at risk of getting out cheaply as the Pakistani tail-Enders didn’t have the reputation of giving able support to their batsmen. But, Abdul Qadir, who was dropped by Cook while batting on 1, debunked this theory and hung on firmly at the other end to provide steady support to the young Malik.

Malik’s defense and footwork were astute and gradually he built a fort along with Qadir which gave Willis enough headaches. The seventh-wicket pair scripted a 75-run stand under trying circumstances. Botham broke Malik and Qadir’s defiant stand by dismissing Qadir for 40. Malik was dismissed for 74 after helping Pakistan to take a handy lead and Tauseef and Azeem stretched the lead by contributing valuable 36 runs for the last wicket as Pakistan took a lead of 95 runs in their first innings. Nick Cook took a six-wicket haul.

England’s meek surrender in the second innings

Sarfraz’s double-strike put England on the back foot in their second innings, but Allan Lamb and Gower steadied the ship as England ended the third day with 54 for 2.

England’s batting on the fourth day was a sorry tale. England’s hopes of building a solid partnership quickly foundered when Lamb was the victim of one of three controversial decisions in the innings. Qadir flummoxed Randall with another googly for the second time in the Test match, Tauseef had Botham’s leg-stump flattened as he went for a sweep, and Marks, bowled between bat and pad by a Srafraz in-cutter, followed before lunch; and when Gower, in the first over afterwards, edged a cut to slip, England were 128 for seven.

England were just leading by 33 runs and Bob Taylor, who could bat when needed, was expected to marshal the tail around and add some valuable runs. But the Pakistani bowlers in no mood to lose the grip from the match. Taylor, Cook and Willis were dismissed cheaply as Pakistan needed just 65 runs to win the first Test.

A thrilling finish

The Test match became a part of cricket’s folklore and burst into the scene when Pakistan started their chase. Cook, who was having the Test match of his life, dismissed Qasim, Mohsin and Zaheer quickly as Pakistan were reduced to 26 for 3. Panic set in the Pakistani batting order as Saleem Malik was run out as he refused to accept the rejection of a single and when Rameez and Wasim were caught in the following two overs, Pakistan were sinking at 40 for 6. England should thank Ian Botham for his brilliant slip catching off the fast-traveling edged drives and Norman Cowan’s breathtaking catch in the outfield, inches off the boundary, to dismiss Wasim Raja.

As England edged closer towards a memorable victory, Pakistan were desperately seeking for calm nerves and Anil Dalpat provided them the ideal composure under such tensed circumstances.  Abdul Qadir’s bat proved valuable again for Pakistan as he gave Anil the much needed support. Qadir and Anil stitched a 19-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Cook dismissed Qadir and at 59 for 7, the game was at a knife’s edge. Pakistan’s unbeaten record at Karachi was at stake while it seemed that England would maintain their unbeaten record against Pakistan on their home soil.

It was a nail-biting situation as Pakistan kept on taking nervy singles by beating the alert English fielders amid enormous tensions. With three more runs required to seal the victory, Sarfraz edged a boundary to hit the winning runs 25 minutes from the close of the fourth day.  It was Pakistan's first victory over England in thirteen home Tests.

This Test match at Karachi has hardly been talked about these days whenever people discuss about Pakistan and England Test matches. They debate about the controversies more, but always forget about those nerve-jangling encounters. Almost, thirty one years ago, Karachi witnessed a battle of nerves which is almost lost from the memories of cricket fans.

Within a few days, England and Pakistan will take part in another Test series. Let this Test series be free from controversies and  gift us more more memorable encounters.

Note: This article has been published in Sportskeeda on 11/10/2015 Pakistan v England - The thrilling conquest at Karachi

Thank You

Faisal Caesar