There can’t have been too many occasions in Test history when a side has batted first, slumped to 102 for 7 and still ended up winning by an innings.
Unusually, Lord’s hosted the last match of a four Test series between England and Pakistan in 2010 and it was a match that went down in history for more than one reason. Notoriety struck when three of Pakistan’s players were implicated in a spot-betting scandal which sadly distracted from a wealth of on-field drama.
Pakistan were 2-1 down in the series and needed a win to level things up. Their hopes were frustrated on day one by rain, which restricted play to little more than 12 overs. But they more than made up for it the next morning. Before a single run had been added three England batsmen had been dismissed in the space of ten balls, all falling to teenage left-arm paceman Mohammad Amir. In his next over, Amir accounted for Eoin Morgan, the third duck of England’s innings. Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior shored things up with a stand of 55 for the sixth wicket, but then Amir removed Prior and Graeme Swann to leave England reeling.
Enter Stuart Broad. Early in his career, Broad verged on all-rounder status. In the previous two English summers he had notched five Test fifties as his bowling also matured. But he was still a number nine, expected to make a few runs here and there, not to produce match-winning hundreds. He had yet to reach three figures, even in county cricket. But right from the start the ball seemed drawn to the middle of his bat. While Trott motored on calmly, Broad unfurled a range of brilliant strokes to reach his hundred from 159 balls. By the close of play, their stand had reached 244. The following morning, they took it on to 332, an all-time Test record for the eighth wicket. Broad’s 169 included 18 fours and one six, Trott’s 184 19 fours. Trott was last man out with the score 446.
Dispirited, Pakistan collapsed to 74 all out – their third sub-100 score of the series – and nearly made it four after England reduced them to 97 for 9 following-on. Some pride was salvaged by a last-wicket stand of 50, but defeat by an innings and 225 runs was still the heaviest in Pakistan’s history.