• Pakistan's Noman Ali, left, Sajid Khan celebrate after their nine-wicket victory against England in the third Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on October 26, 2024. The spinners shared all 10 wickets in the visitors' second innings as the hosts won the three-Test series 2-1. AFP
    Pakistan's Noman Ali, left, Sajid Khan celebrate after their nine-wicket victory against England in the third Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on October 26, 2024. The spinners shared all 10 wickets in the visitors' second innings as the hosts won the three-Test series 2-1. AFP
  • Pakistan's Noman Ali, left, celebrates after taking the wicket of England's captain Ben Stokes. AFP
    Pakistan's Noman Ali, left, celebrates after taking the wicket of England's captain Ben Stokes. AFP
  • Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan stumps England's Jack Leach off the bowling of Noman Ali. Reuters
    Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan stumps England's Jack Leach off the bowling of Noman Ali. Reuters
  • Pakistan's Sajid Khan, centre, celebrates with teammates after dismissing England's Rehan Ahmed. EPA
    Pakistan's Sajid Khan, centre, celebrates with teammates after dismissing England's Rehan Ahmed. EPA
  • England's Harry Brook reacts after being dismissed for 26 by Noman Ali. EPA
    England's Harry Brook reacts after being dismissed for 26 by Noman Ali. EPA
  • Pakistan's captain Shan Masood, left, and Abdullah Shafique celebrate after winning the third Test. AFP
    Pakistan's captain Shan Masood, left, and Abdullah Shafique celebrate after winning the third Test. AFP
  • Pakistan captain Shan Masood, left, receives trophy after winning the series against England. AP
    Pakistan captain Shan Masood, left, receives trophy after winning the series against England. AP
  • England captain Ben Stokes congratulates Shan Masood after Pakistan won the match and the series. Getty Images
    England captain Ben Stokes congratulates Shan Masood after Pakistan won the match and the series. Getty Images

Ben Stokes backs England’s batters after crushing series defeat to Pakistan


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Ben Stokes admitted England failed to measure up as they crashed to a series defeat against Pakistan but suggested there would be no scapegoats for the rout in Rawalpindi.

The tourists were railroaded for 112 in the second innings of the decisive third Test, with their lowest total since Stokes took charge two and a half years ago, leaving their opponents chasing just 36.

It took Pakistan only 19 deliveries to put England out of their misery as home skipper Shan Masood blitzed Shoaib Bashir for six to seal the deal before lunch on day three.

It was all a far cry from the opening Test at the start of the month, an innings victory that saw England declare with a merciless score of 823 for seven on a flat track in Multan.

In the next two matches, both played on extreme turning pitches, they scored 814 across four innings for the loss of all 40 wickets.

Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, Pakistan’s spin bowling brothers in arms, accounted for 39 of those as familiar failings and a series of wild dismissals came back to haunt Stokes’ side.

“Losing games for England hurts,” he said. “We’ve obviously underperformed because we’ve lost the last two games. We got thrown challenges and weren’t able to stand up to those challenges for long enough to get the results we wanted.

“It doesn’t always work out the way in which you want. With the ability our batters had, we felt we were still in with a very good chance of winning this game but credit to Noman and Sajid for the way they bowled. We’ve got to hold our hands up and say those two were too good for our batting line-up.”

The make-up of that batting order is back under scrutiny after three defeats in the last four games, including a shock reverse at the hands of Sri Lanka at the Oval.

Ollie Pope is attracting most attention at number three, having managed a threadbare 55 runs in five innings on tour.

He increasingly resembles an all-or-nothing player, with three fine centuries and 11 single-figure scores in an up-and-down 2024 that sees him average a modest 32.

Stokes, though, appeared steadfast in supporting his vice-captain.

“You can’t shut the door on everything, then you are being single-minded to what you want to do, but there is no doubt in my mind that we have the best top-six batsmen in England,” he said.

“Everyone goes through highs and lows. I’ve played a lot of cricket and I know that

“When you take very small games or series and use that to assess what you’re doing going forward, it’s a bit of a cut-throat way to go about it.

“We’ve got some batsmen who’ve come off a really good summer, got some hundreds and some good scores that allowed us to be successful throughout our English summer.

“We’ve celebrated a lot of Popey’s individual brilliance over last couple of years.”

England are likely to make good on those supportive words in the coming days, when they announce their squad for next month’s Test tour of New Zealand.

Pope is virtually certain to take his place, but is in need of a strong end to his rollercoaster year.

Stokes’ opposite number Masood was a contented man, having overseen his country’s first series win at home since early 2021.

“When we played in Multan, we were told that it’s not sustainable, that we can’t take this forward,” he said.

“I thought the gloss was taken off a bit from our (second Test) win by people saying that the toss was very important. So I’m very satisfied we lost this toss and won the match.”

THE BIO

Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.

Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.

Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.

Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.

 

 

While you're here
NBA FINALS SO FAR

(Toronto lead 3-2 in best-of-seven series)

Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109

Game 2 Raptors 104 Warriors 109

Game 3 Warriors 109 Raptors 123

Game 4 Warriors 92 Raptors 105

Game 5 Raptors 105 Warriors 106

Game 6 Thursday, at Oakland

Game 7 Sunday, at Toronto (if needed)

Teams

Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq

Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi

Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag

Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC

Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC

Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan

Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes

Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals

Company%20Profile
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Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
MATCH INFO

Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)

Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm

Andor
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Tony%20Gilroy%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDiego%20Luna%2C%20Genevieve%20O'Reilly%2C%20Alex%20Ferns%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%205%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
PROFILE OF SWVL

Started: April 2017

Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport

Size: 450 employees

Investment: approximately $80 million

Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani

match info

Athletic Bilbao 1 (Muniain 37')

Atletico Madrid 1 (Costa 39')

Man of the match  Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao)

Updated: October 26, 2024, 11:18 AM