England v Pakistan: Jack Leach leads England to historic win against Pakistan in Multan test match

The England cricket team have completed a breathtaking victory in the first test against Pakistan, with bowler Jack Leach putting the finishing touches to a record-breaking week on the fifth morning in Multan.

The left-arm spinner snapped up the last three wickets on the final day, with last man Abrar Ahmed unable to bat due to illness, to secure one of the most remarkable results of the “Bazball” era.

The final winning margin was an innings and 47 runs, an unthinkable proposition when Pakistan ended with 556 runs on day two.

No team in history has ever scored as many runs and gone on to lose without making their opponents bat twice.

“Credit to firstly the bowlers, the way they went about their stuff on day one and the majority of day two,” England captain Ollie Pope said on Sky Sports.

“I think the fitness they showed ... and then the same with Harry Brook and Joe Root – I think we knew the way to win this game was to put a mammoth score on the board, and it wasn’t just 100, it was 317 and 262.

“So I think that’s just credit to them for obviously the skills they have with the bat but the determination they had to put the team in a winning position. It was awesome.”

Pakistan, shellshocked at conceding a 267-run deficit after both teams had completed an innings each, lost a cluster of wickets on the fourth evening and were finally rounded up by Leach for 220.

The game began with Pakistan piling up the runs over 149 gruelling overs after winning the toss but England responded with a mammoth 7-823 before declaring, with Harry Brook’s 317 the centrepiece of the fourth-largest innings in test history. The English bowlers did the rest.

Pakistan resumed with minimal hope on the final day and saw Leach come to the fore to mark his first appearance since January in style.

The left-armer, who has seen his status as first-choice spinner usurped by his Somerset teammate Shoaib Bashir, played the role of finisher as he took out Salman Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah to finish with 4-30 and match figures of 7-190.

Leach entered the fray after the first drinks break and it took just four balls to do the trick, shading one just past Salman’s inside edge and winning the lbw verdict.

The allrounder called for a review but England knew they had their man. Brydon Carse switched ends and should have had Aamer Jamal for a hard-fought 50, Pope making good ground under a high catch only to fumble it.

The Pakistan tail showed little appetite to delay things, swinging with abandon as Leach picked them off. Afridi blasted a drive back down the ground but saw the bowler leap in front of the umpire to gather a smart diving catch, while Naseem managed one six before charging down the wicket and being stumped by Smith.

It had taken just 96 minutes to close things down and handed England a 1-0 win in the three-match series.