During England's last test series in November 2005 with Pakistan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, the captain of the Pakistan team and rallying force, guided them to a 22-run victory in Multan. A critical moment of play occurred midway through the morning session on the final day as England lost five wickets in 10 overs from a strong position of 64-1 while chasing just 198 in the fourth innings.
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Some of England's dismissals in the last innings were wasteful, undoing the good work done in the first four days. Marcus Trescothick's brilliant 193 in their first innings far outshone the efforts of anybody else on the team in this Test match which served as a beacon of leadership and tactical insight.
Shaun Udal (36-yeal-old then) made his debut for England in this Test match as its oldest player since John Childs in 1988. After losing their last nine wickets for just 111 runs, there was no dispute about whether the English side possessed the confidence that comes with defeating world champions in Ashes earlier that year.
In England's first innings, Marcus Trescothick batted for under eight hours before being out, nicking the seamer Shabbir Ahmed just after midday on the third day with his side at 388 for 7. In the same innings, Pakistan's inexperience was evident in their 22 no-balls and fielding errors. Shaoib Akthar alone bowled 9 no-balls in this innings while spinners Shoaib Malik and Danish Kaneria accounted for 8 no-balls collectively.
However, it was Pakistan's opener Salman Butt who displayed impressive foresight in his shot selection scoring a century in Pakistan's second innings, working the ball into gaps while minimizing danger. Butt scored 74 runs in the first innings to go with his 122 in the second innings and was their standout performer. It was his superb batting effort that helped Pakistan recover from a 144-run deficit in the first innings to setting a target of 198 to the Visiting side in the fourth innings.
England's batting in the 4th innings was not as strong as it had been in the warm-up games. Except for two scores in the 30s, the rest of the team struggled mightily and could not pick Danish Kaneria's googly who ended up with a 4-wicket haul in the 4th innings. At the fall of wicket-keeper Geraint Jones off Shoaib Akhtar's bowling on Day 5, England were just 32 runs away from victory with 2 wickets in hand.
Pakistan snatched those final two wickets in no time to register a convincing 22-run victory and take a lead of 1-0 in the 3-match Test series. The second Test match of the series was drawn while a thumping victory by an innings and 100 runs in the third and final Test match of the series by Pakistan helped them win the 3-match series by 2-0. It was a sad ending to England's hopes who were hoping for a second consecutive Test series victory in Paksitan!
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