Mohammad Abbas led the way with eight wickets as Pakistan coasted to a nine-wicket victory over England on the fourth day of the first of two Tests at Lord’s on Sunday (27 May.) That gave Pakistan an unassailable 1-0 lead in the series, with the second Test to be played at Headingley from 1 June.

England started the day on 235/6 in their second innings, 56 ahead of Pakistan. But all their hopes of stretching the lead to a challenging target for Pakistan were dashed when Abbas and Mohammad Amir ran through the England lower order and bowled them out for 242.

Pakistan then chased down the target of 64 with nine wickets in hand, and captain Sarfraz Ahmed was understandably proud of his team’s performance.

“I’m very proud of my team, the way the young players produced their talent,” Ahmed said after the match. “When we came here we were very inexperienced, but we were very confident. We have a very good bowling side.”There were four half-centuries in the Pakistan first innings – Azhar Ali (50), Asad Shafiq (59), Babar Azam (68 – retired hurt) and Shadab Khan (52) – but the win was made possible by the bowlers. Abbas was the best of them, and was named the Player of the Match, while Amir picked up five wickets in the match and Hasan Ali four in the first innings.

“The way the bowlers did a job for us was great. We worked really hard on our fielding. Our catching was fantastic. The Malahide game (against Ireland) was a very tough game, the way we won the match it was good for us,” Ahmed said.

Abbas, who idolises Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif, had a great time in his maiden outing at Lord’s. “I enjoyed it a lot, Lord’s a full house, enjoyed very moment of it,” he said.

Abbas, a Leicestershire player, said that the county experience had helped him acclimatise. “Thank you to PCB [Pakistan Cricket Board] for letting me come to Leicester, helped get used to conditions and helped me pitch it up,” he said. “Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif are my heroes. I learnt a lot from Asif, who has been a great help to me.”

England got it wrong and must learn quickly, says Root

LONDON (Reuters): England captain Joe Root admitted his team had been comprehensively outplayed by an inexperienced Pakistan side in their nine-wicket loss to the tourists in the first test at Lord’s.

England were bowled out for 184 on the first day after Root won the toss and never recovered as they suffered their first defeat in a May test at the home of cricket following series losses in Australia and New Zealand.

“We got it wrong, we know that,” Root told reporters on Sunday. “These conditions suit us as well. It’s a talented team and there are guys in there who will do great things for England.”

Pakistan scored 363 in their first innings and England collapsed to 110 for six in their second before a seventh-wicket partnership of 126 between Jos Buttler and Dom Bess spared the embarrassment of an innings defeat and took the match into the fourth day.

“We have been out-performed in all three departments, we have to be better,” Root said. “There have been a number of collapses recently and we have to find a way as a group.”

The last time England lost the first test in a home summer was in 1995 against West Indies and they only have four days to regroup before the second and final match at Headingley starting on Friday.“We have to be more patient and take our opportunities when we get them. We can do that next week and we must take that chance,” Root said.

“We can’t ignore this, we have to learn from it quickly. A lot of the things that we do are very good.”

England, fifth in the world test rankings, are unlikely to make changes to their side, although batsmen Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan are under particular pressure following lean runs.

“We are ambitious, we want to win but sometimes we make poor decisions,” Root said.

“It’s about the number of runs you score, not how long it takes you and maybe we need to absorb a bit more. You have to recognise the right times to attack.”

England’s last home test series loss came in 2014 against Sri Lanka and they have won five and two drawn two since.

They host top-ranked India in a five-test series starting in August.