FEATURES
Follow UsWith just 17 wickets falling across the first four days on a surface akin to a road, the first Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Rawalpindi looked like it was headed for a draw. But Pakistan ended up doing Pakistan things on Day 5, as from 66/2, they inexplicably collapsed to 146 all-out to hand Bangladesh their first-ever victory on Pakistani soil.
This would have been labelled a horror defeat had it been any other team, but collapses like these have been common with Pakistan. We look at some of the horror third and fourth-innings collapses endured by the Men in Green in the past 15 years in Test cricket.
181/2 to 230 all-out chasing 369 vs New Zealand, Hamilton 2016
After losing the first Test in Christchurch comprehensively, Pakistan had a golden opportunity to end the series on a high in Hamilton.
They were set a target of 369 by New Zealand, but thanks to openers Sami Aslam (91) and Azhar Ali (58), the visitors were coasting at one point in the chase at 181/2 in the 73rd over. Even if victory seemed tough due to there not being enough time on the final day, it looked like they had sealed a draw, at the very least.
Except they hadn’t.
From 181/2, the tourists inexplicably lost their last eight wickets for 49 runs to slip to a 138-run defeat. Outside the openers, no other batter showed any restraint whatsoever, with no one outside Aslam and Azhar crossing the 20-run mark. The scores of the last seven batters read 11, 0, 13, 8, 0, 0, 0 as the Kiwis sealed a 2-0 series win.
71/2 to 117 all-out chasing 168 vs Sri Lanka, Galle 2009
Fourth innings chases in Sri Lanka are never easy, and chasing 168 against the spin duo of Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis was always going to be a very tricky ask for Pakistan.
But the Men in Green were on course for victory at one point at 71/2, with Salman Butt and Mohammad Yousuf looking solid and secured in the middle of their 32-run stand. At this point, the tourists needed 97 with 8 wickets in hand.
However, from this point onwards, the dismissal of Yousuf — who was trapped LBW by Herath — triggered one of the worst collapses of this century. 71/2 became 71/3 after Yousuf’s LBW, and in no time, this blew up to 85/7. The seventh wicket, which was a run-out that sent skipper Misbah-ul-Haq back to the hut, was the final nail in the coffin.
Pakistan eventually lost their last eight wickets for just 46 runs as they slipped to a 50-run defeat.
285/1 to 320 all-out in the third innings vs Sri Lanka, Colombo 2009
Lightning struck twice as in the very next match of the series, Pakistan somehow ended up suffering a collapse that was hundred times worse.
Fourth-innings collapses on Day 5 are understandable, but, on this occasion, Pakistan were 285/1 in the third innings, on Day 3, leading by 135 runs with nine wickets in hand. Sri Lanka were at the mercy of the Pakistan batters, with Fawad Alam and Younis Khan adding 200 runs together.
Out of the blue, then, in what is arguably the single worst collapse in Tests in the past 15 years, the visitors lost their last nine wickets for 35 RUNS to fold to 320 all-out. That’s right, 320 all-out from 285/1.
Herath bagged five, but Nuwan Kulasekara also caused serious damage, taking the massive wickets of Misbah and Kamran Akmal in his spell of 4/37.
Sri Lanka remarkably finished the game off on the same day, chasing 171 in 31.5 overs to seal the series.
130/3 to 171 all-out chasing 176 vs New Zealand, Abu Dhabi 2018
Is it even possible to collapse at a venue like Abu Dhabi? When you’re 46 runs away from the target? Well, apparently, it is.
At 130/3 chasing 176, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series seemed like a matter of time for Pakistan. Especially because they had two senior batters - Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq - batting exquisitely, who added 82 runs together after an early jolt.
From this point onwards, the hosts produced one of the worst Test batting displays of all time to collapse to 171 all-out and dumbfoundingly lose the contest by five runs.
Babar Azam was run out, Sarfaraz Ahmed perished trying to slog sweep, Bilal Asif got cleaned up trying to slog one and Hasan Ali got caught at mid-wicket trying to hit a six when 12 was needed, with Azhar Ali batting on 58* at the other end. The most Pakistan collapse of all time.
This match was the debut of Ajaz Patel, who took 5/59 as New Zealand won the first Test. They would eventually go on to win the three-match series 2-1.
81 all-out chasing 188 vs West Indies, Bridgetown 2018
This one was a fourth-innings capitulation more than a collapse.
With the scores in the first three innings of the Test reading 312, 393 & 268, not many expected West Indies to defend 188. As it turned out, the hosts ended up winning by 106 runs.
West Indies had two spinners in their line-up (Roston Chase and Devendra Bishoo) but they didn’t even need to use both as Shannon Gabriel (5/11), Alzarri Joseph (2/42) and Jason Holder (3/23) did the job for the hosts.
Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mohammad Amir were the only two batters that crossed 20 for Pakistan.
There were four ducks in the innings, with Babar, Misbah, Shafiq and Yasir Shah not troubling the scorers.
142/2 to 235 all-out chasing 351 vs Australia, Lahore 2022
Pakistan are currently in the midst of a nine-match winless streak at home and this series was where it all began for them.
After the first two Tests of the three-match series ended in a draw, the third Test in Lahore also looked like it was going to be a stalemate. Australia had set Pakistan 351 to win, but Pakistan were 142/2 in the 62nd over of the fourth innings, on Day 5. There was nothing happening on the surface barring a bit of reverse swing, and batting seemed easy.
However, from a point of security, the hosts ended up losing the game and the series.
Pakistan suffered two separate collapses in this innings: first from 142/2 to 167/5 and then from 213/5 to 235 all-out. A draw looked possible when skipper Babar was batting, but his dismissal — caught at slip off the bowling of Lyon — proved to be the final nail in the coffin.
Lyon grabbed five as Australia bundled out the last four batters for just 22 runs to walk away with a 1-0 series win.
If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out — big time. Play Fantasy on Cricket.com NOW! Download the App here.
