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Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes ‘sixth-wicket partnership of 139 races helped England draw the series’ first blood. (Source: Reuters)

Two unusual suspects, Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes staged England’s nervous three-wicket victory over Pakistan in Test 1 at Old Trafford. England’s pursuit of 277 looked in shambles when Pakistan had them on the canvas at 117 of 5, but Buttler and Woakes got them back on their feet with an ice and fire partnership of 139 runs in 33 overs.

After a thrilling display of counter hitting, Buttler left for 75 just before the close, reviving slim hopes for a final spin, but Woakes calmly led England home with an unbeaten 84. The last four of them had a serendipitous advantage, but it also marked a famous comeback win for England, a comeback that began with Woakes’ dismissal of Azhar Ali and Babar Azam on the third day and ended with the glory races that they came out of his bat.

Victory could define both the series and the race. Especially for Buttler, whose career in England has been on the brink. Punished for his sloppy glove work in the match, especially in the early innings when he twice pardoned Shan Masood and criticized for his confused approach to willow, he walked as if a millstone hung from his neck.

Perhaps it was this inexorable pressure that cleared his mind. Because he took off that mask of caution, he had never looked natural or comfortable in this, and he hugged the familiar and fiery avatar again. Needless to say, he rediscovered a part of his old company. Here he was hitting, pounding, sweeping and sweeping back the Pakistani bowlers. He was hit a couple of times, hit in the stomach by Shaheen Afridi’s gorilla, but there was no way he would flinch. There were no half measures, no faint pinpricks, no trembling steps; he was bristling with a new purpose. Perhaps the crude purpose of a man who knows there can be no tomorrow. Whatever your way of thinking, it worked. He dismounted the Pakistani bowlers, one after another, going back the years. Buttler, you could say, was lost and found at Old Trafford. And a fiery Buttler is an unstoppable force.

Chris Woakes celebrates winning the match with Dom Bess. (Source: Reuters)

Fascinating was how he annulled Yasir Shah, who threatened to tear England apart in a field that had begun to misbehave. But Buttler baffled him with a work of sweeping strokes, the conventional, the reverse and the tough, the welding power and the sophistication. England, Pakistan’s deadliest bowler on the surface, breathed a sigh of relief. Shah finally nailed him in the reverse sweep, but that was after he caused chaos.

Woakes’ act of support, though he ultimately outdid Buttler, was invaluable. The underrated off-roader was instrumental in negotiating Afridi, who he drove violently through the decks and cut through the nose. Later, when Naseem Shah made a big mistake, he also mercilessly punished him. His contributions to the victory setup cannot be overstated. Exclusive coverage of Naseem ushered in his first half-century in 17 innings. Like Buttler, this punch could make it harder to drop as he seemed like the most expendable member of England’s rhythm quartet.

Pakistan was paralyzed by the attack. Its intensity waned and hope waned. They could not defend themselves against the backlash from England. Midway through the second session, the tourists looked ready to deliver the coup de grace and nose-crushing to England. Now it seemed like a mirage, less an illusion. When Woakes and Buttler joined in the middle, the signs were ominous. Everything worked like clockwork for Pakistan. The intensity of his bowling was suffocating. The strip was getting naughty, as the layoffs of Ben Stokes and Ollie Pope justified.

Stokes donned some of Shah’s gorilla, the latter’s pole vault in his glove. Pope received a nastier delivery – a delivery exploded in his gloves from a good length. Pakistan seemed like an unstoppable force of nature. Pope was the fourth batter England lost in the space of 31 runs. It started with Dom Sibley playing an unusually flamboyant shot, driving freely against Shah, and ending a tough 64-race alliance with Joe Root.

In the time it took England to add 10 more runs, Naseem eliminated Root. Naseem, his reputation flourishing with each spell, caused the ball to jump off the surface from a good length to graze the shoulder of Root’s bat, much like the one that caught Pope in the first inning. Of all his virtues of speed and endurance, it’s this particular facet that would make him a terrible proposition for hitters down the road.

The collapse came after a sustained period of persistence on the part of Pakistani bowlers. They kept hammering with test lines and test lengths; They shuffled their tactics and methods and supported it with an animated field and more animated chat. They created a false impression on English hitters that there was a lot going on. It was pure theater. England’s collapse seemed like the decisive turn in the match, only Woakes and Buttler put the final twist on.

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