Test cricket has witnessed teams amassing huge totals several times. And it’s pretty common to see teams scoring big once and then bundling out the opponent twice within that total.
Now imagine a team getting significant runs on the board and losing the match, not by a small margin but by an innings. Losing a Test match by an innings margin is something that not many teams want to face, and that too after posting a huge total.
But Pakistan earned a dubious record after their humiliating defeat at the hands of England in Multan on October 11, 2024. They lost the Test match by an innings even after scoring 500-plus runs in their first innings.
Sounds crazy, right?
So let’s look at how things unfolded and Pakistan lost by an innings after scoring 500-plus runs.
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ACF 11: When Bangladesh Lost 21 Consecutive Test Matches
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ACF 13: When Don Bran Scored 309 Runs in a Single Day of a Test Match
ACF 14: Graeme Smith Converted First 4 Test Centuries to 150+ Scores
ACF 15: When England Declared their Innings on 0/0!
ACF 16: Picking the First 50 ODI Wickets Within a Year of Debut
ACF-17: The Only 3 Players with a Double of 10000 and 500 Wickets in Cricket
ACF 18: When Pakistan Lost by an Innings After Scoring 500+ Runs
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ACF 23: When Vivian Richards became the fastest player to Score 2000 ODI Runs in Australia
ACF 24: Adam Gilchrist Scored All 16 ODI Centuries in Wins
ACF 25: Highest Partnerships by No. 10 and 11 Batters in Test Cricket
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500-plus Runs, But Still Lost by an Innings
The story begins in Multan, which hosted the first Test of the 3-match series between Pakistan and England. The venue rolled out the flattest deck, with little help for the bowlers.
The Multan pitch was a proper graveyard for bowlers. And both teams got a taste of the wicket during their bowling turns. But, perhaps, Pakistan tasted it quite badly.
Looking at the nature of the pitch, the hosts decided to bat. And it seemed the correct decision until England came out to bat.
In the first innings, Pakistan fought their way to 556 runs. Captain Shan Masood, who was under tremendous pressure for not getting a big score, led from the front and scored 151 runs.
He got able from opener Abdullah Shafiqu, who scored 102 runs and Salman Agha, who amassed an unbeaten 104 at No. 8. Saud Shakeel also chipped in with his 82-run knock at No. 5.
Pakistan were all out on 556 runs after 5 and a half sessions under the baking hot sun in Multan. It looked like half the battle was won. But Pakistan didn’t know what was going to strike them.
England came out to bat and lost their captain, Ollie Pope, on the 8th ball of their innings. Everyone thought England would slump further.
But Zak Crawley and Joe Root stood strong and closed out the second day on 96 for 1. Play resumed on the third day, and England didn’t give an inch to Pakistan bowlers for the next 5 sessions.
Crawley fell on 78, but Ben Duckett ed Root and scored at a rapid scoring rate. Both batters got their fifties, but Duckett lost his wickets after lunch on day 3.
