ENG VS PAK - 2nd Test, Pakistan tour of England, 2018

And that's that folks. After 7 weeks of bright colours and fireworks, we are back to the game's purest form. It was a pleasure bringing you the action over the last 3 days. This is Rishi Roy, bidding adieu in the elite company of Vineet Anantharaman, Pradeep Krishnamurthy, Shashikant Singh, and our substitute fielder Hariprasad Sadanandan. That's it from England. Join us again in August for more red-ball action from the UK. Cheerio!

17:11 Local Time, 21:41 IST: Phew! That was some game. Forgive, but the thrill that Pakistan offers, no other team can! After hanging on by their teeth against the Irish, they came and decimated England at Lord's, and yet again, we saw a new Pakistan rising from the ashes. However, credit to England and their young brigade, Bess, Curran, et al., for producing some performances beyond their years. Pakistan can also take a lot away from this series, as they continue to mass produce world-class bowlers. The batting, though, has got the reality check it needed.

And now, Sarfaraz and Joe Root hold up the trophy, which will be shared. Pakistan and England have both won a Test each, and the NatWest Trophy will is held aloft by both the captains.

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Joe Root, England Captain (2/2): "It's a really good step forward as a team, and hopefully we can keep going, and move on from this. I think the youngsters like Curran, Bess, etc did a really good job. It was a really difficult job to bat, and Cook batted well with Jennings. That partnership with Bess put us in a really good position, and backed up the senior players. We were below par at Lord's, and we were low on confidence after a tough winter. But we showed character as a group and we showed what we are made of and showed that we were very ambitious as a team. It's important to learn lessons from weeks like these as well, but it's even more important to take the confidence going forward. Certainly think we can beat India in England if we play the way we did in this Test."

Joe Root, England Captain (1/2): "Yeah it was a better performance. We spoke as a group about character last week, as it was a tough week. We spoke of playing with pride and enjoyment. We adapted well with the conditions, and learnt quickly. And even though we lost the toss, it worked in our favour. As a group we were really good. A few guys stood up with a point to prove and it was a really good win for us. The opening bowlers set the tone for the Test. They were very well backed up as well. We were very balanced in our batting as well. We were really good in attack and defence as well. That's the best thing: when you go out and prove to others what you've got inside, that's what so satisfying for me. I think it was the nature of the pitch that no one got a hundred. There was a lot of lateral movement, a lot of seam movement and later when it got cooler, there was some swing as well. There was some spin as well, and credit to the groundstaff for producing the pitch that they did and credit to the lads for such a good performance."

Sarfaraz Ahmed, Pakistan captain: "The toss decision was correct, but we didn't back up the decision with our batting. They bowled really well in the first two hours and we didn't bat well, so credit to them. It was a good batting pitch. We certainly didn't apply ourselves as well as we did in Lord's, and we were not as well disciplined. The batting was not up to the mark. Dropped catches are a part and parcel of the game. When we were down by 180 runs, there was some pressure on the batting side and again we didn't capitalize on a good batting pitch. I am quite proud of my young team which did extremely well in the two Test matches."

Mohammad Abbas, Man of the Series (10 wickets): "I was worried and disappointed that I wouldn't get my name on the Lord's honour's board. I would have been more happy if we won the series. According to the seaming conditions, I try and bowl in the right areas, it is a part and parcel of bowling on a seaming track of not getting the nick. Sometimes you get the nicks, sometimes you don't. The English were under pressure, because I had done well. They changed the ploy against me by standing outside the crease, but I'll look to improve my bowling further. And I wish Wasim Akram a very happy birthday!"

Jos Buttler, Man of the Match 80*(101): "Yeah, thrilled to be back in the side. Brilliant opportunity. Wanted to make the most of it and really enjoyed the occasion. The pitch was such that bowlers were always in the game. Batsmen could get starts, but there would always be balls that could get wickets. I thought this performance backed up a tough week at Lord's, which shows what the batsmen are capable of. It is fun to take some slogging into Test batting. I think I'm lucky that I got this opportunity, and that someone gave me this opportunity and showed faith in me is very encouraging."

Interviews coming right up!

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After an intimidating lead of 189 runs, Pakistan's batting faltered and despite some inspiring batting by Imam and Salahuddin, Pakistan stumbled to an embarrassing collapse, as England managed to come back in a must-win game and triumphed by an innings and 55 runs.

Pakistan gave it their all with the bowling, particularly putting the scrambled seam ball to good use and managed to seam it around even after 80 overs. Not much reverse, as the bowlers lacked the pace for it and the surface lacked the roughness (not to mention the exceptional quality of the Dukes). But the ball seamed around. Pakistan just didn't have the luck to get the nicks; only enough to beat the bat.

16:24 Local Time, 20:54 IST: As Mickey Arthur mentioned yesterday, as did Cricbuzz user Hassan Jogiat, "the trouble for both teams in the Tests started at the toss." Pakistan, after having decided to bat first, failed to play the seaming ball satisfactorily and were bundled out for 174, with teenaged leg-spinner Shadab Khan doing the bulk of the scoring with a fifty.

Prateek: Both matches had many similarities but one big difference- Different Winners. This is what you get when the opponent emulates your strategies against you.

Vikas: When was the last time Sarfraz scored a respectable score for his team? Shouldn't a captain lead by example?

Broad to Mohammad Abbas, out Caught by Root!! Slip 3 of 4 takes the catch, and it's the captain! England win by an innings and 55 runs! Scrambled seam ball pounded into the wicket and headed for the helmet, Mohammad Abbas gets it off the top-half sticker whilst trying to fend it off, manages to lob it towards Root at 3rd slip who holds on and screams in delight! England's first Test win in nearly 9 months, and it's a huge relief! Mohammad Abbas c Root b Broad 1(10)

Broad to Mohammad Abbas, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Broad to Mohammad Abbas, no run, good length delivery in the hallway of hesitation outside off, straightening subtly off the seam, and beats the tentative poke of Mohammad Abbas from the crease

The open-propeller Yorkshire Airways flight sails over the stadium.

Broad to Amir, 1 run, back of a length and down leg, clipped away off the back foot towards deep fine leg for a single

Broad to Mohammad Abbas, 1 run, fuller one on the pads, whipped away towards forward short leg, through to backward square leg for a quick single