England completes memorable and record-filled test match with innings win over Pakistan

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — England notched one of its most memorable test wins as it beat Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs on the fifth and final day of the first cricket test on Friday.

Pakistan was bowled out for 220 inside the first session as Salman Ali Agha (63) and Aamer Jamal (55 not out) delayed the inevitable with their fighting half centuries.

Ill No. 11 Abrar Ahmed, who has been in hospital for the last two days due to a fever, couldn’t bat as Pakistan suffered the embarrassment of becoming the first test-playing country to lose a match by an innings after scoring over 500 runs in the first innings.

Left-arm spinner Jack Leach picked up all the three wickets on the final morning to finish with 4-30 after fast bowlers Gus Atkinson and debutant Brydon Carse had mopped the Pakistan top-order on the fourth evening.

Carse and Atkinson, who is playing his first away test match, took eight wickets in the match while Chris Woakes set the tone of the England win by clean bowling first-innings centurion Abdullah Shafique off the first ball in the second innings.

Resuming on 152-6, Agha and Jamal resisted for an hour and stretched their partnership to 109 before Leach struck in his first over when he had Agha trapped leg before wicket off a straight delivery.

Leach then finished off the tail quickly by grabbing a stunning low return catch of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah was stumped after hitting the left-arm spinner for a straight six.

England had broken number of test records when it amassed 823-7 declared on the back of Harry Brook’s belligerent triple century and Joe Root’s impeccable 262 in reply to Pakistan’s first innings score of 556.

On Wednesday, Root also became England’s highest test run-scorer. He surpassed Alastair Cook as England’s leading run-scorer and batted with lot of determination in a record 454-run partnership with Brook in intense heat of Multan.

“The fitness Brook, Root and the bowlers showed, credit to them for the skills and determination to put the team in a winning position,” stand-in captain Ollie Pope said.

Pope was out for a duck in England’s mammoth total.

“I smoked a pull shot straight to mid-wicket, but it’s a team game and we’re on the right side of the performance,” Pope said.

Pope, who led the side in the first test in the absence of injured Ben Stokes, praised pace bowler Carse in his debut test and Leach, who made a comeback to test cricket after injury.

“Brydon on debut was awesome, charged with a lot of heart,” Pope said. “The way Jack Leach bowled, coming back into the side, fits right in and taking crucial wickets.

Pakistan's woeful run in test cricket continued with skipper Shan Masood losing his sixth successive test since being elevated as captain last year. It was also Pakistan’s seventh loss at home in 11 test matches with the last win coming against South Africa in February 2021.

“Harsh reality is that England found a way and we didn’t," Masood said. “No matter what the pitch is, quality sides will find a way and for us the learning is to find a way when we play test cricket."

Masood said his team is again demoralized after losing 3-0 to Australia, 2-0 to Bangladesh at home and collapsing in the testing hot weather of Multan against England.

“We’re hurt by the results, we’re hurt as a nation, we’re not getting the results that Pakistan cricket deserves. We have to get this right as a squad.”

The second test begins at Multan from next Tuesday with the final test scheduled for Rawalpindi from Oct. 24.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

England's Joe Root, center, and teammates walk off the field after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Ollie Pope, left, and teammates walk off the field after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Zak Crawley, right, and teammates acknowledge crowd as they walk off the field after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

English fans cheer for their team on the end of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Ollie Pope, left, and teammates are congratulated each others after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jamie Smith, left, removes bails to stump out to Pakistan's Naseem Shah during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jack Leach, center in glasses, and teammates are congratulated each others after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jamie Smith, left, and Ollie Pope, center, appeal for LBW out of Pakistan's Salman Ali Agha during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jack Leach takes the catch of Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistan's Salman Ali Agha reacts as he walks off the field after his dismissal during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jack Leach, left, celebrates with Ollie Pope after taking the wicket of Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jack Leach, center in glasses, celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Pakistan's Salman Ali Agha during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Ollie Pope, right, and teammates are congratulated each others after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jack Leach, center, celebrates with Ollie Pope after taking the wicket of Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Ollie Pope, center, and teammates are congratulated each others after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand's defense minister issued stinging rebukes of what she said were “vile” and “misogynistic” online remarks by “armchair admirals” about the woman captain of a navy ship that ran aground, caught fire and sank off the coast of Samoa.

“Seriously, it’s 2024,” Judith Collins told reporters Thursday. “What the hell’s going on here?”

After days of comments on social media directed at the gender of Commander Yvonne Gray, Collins urged the public to “be better.” Women members of the military had also faced verbal abuse in the street in New Zealand since the ship — one of nine in the country's navy — was lost on Sunday, Collins said.

All 75 people on board evacuated to safety with only minor injuries after the vessel ran aground on the reef it was surveying about a mile off the coast of Upolu, Samoa's most populous island. The cause of the disaster is not known.

“The one thing that we already know did not cause it is the gender of the ship's captain, a woman with 30 years' naval experience who on the night made the call to get her people to safety,” Collins said.

One of the posters was a truck driver from Melbourne, Australia, she added.

“I think that he should keep his comments to people who drive trucks rather than people who drive ships,” Collins said. “These are the sorts of people I'm calling out and I'm happy to keep calling them out for as long as it takes to stop this behavior.”

About 20% of New Zealand’s uniformed military members are women. Collins is New Zealand's first woman defense minister and said she stood alongside Gray and Maj. Gen. Rose King, the country's first woman army chief, who assumed her role in June.

“We are all appointed on merit, not gender,” said Collins.

The sinking prompted fears of a major fuel spill. On Thursday, officials in Samoa said while the vessel was leaking oil from three places, the amount was reducing each day and was dissipating quickly due to strong winds in the area.

Most of the ship's fuel appeared to have burned out in the fire, according to a statement by the Marine Pollution Advisory Committee. Officials were due to meet with locals Thursday to discuss how to remove the vessel's anchor and three shipping containers from the reef without further damaging the fragile marine ecosystem.

New Zealand’s government has ordered a military court of inquiry into the episode, which will be led by senior military officers. It will assemble for the first time on Friday.

Passengers, including civilian scientists and foreign military personnel, left the vessel on life boats in “challenging conditions” and darkness, New Zealand’s Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding told reporters after the sinking.

Those on board have since returned to New Zealand by plane.

The specialist dive and hydrographic vessel had been in service for New Zealand since 2019, but was 20 years old and had previously belonged to Norway. The military said the ship, purchased for $100 million NZ dollars ($61 million), was not covered by replacement insurance.

The state of New Zealand’s aging military hardware has prompted warnings from the defense agency, which in a March report described the navy as “extremely fragile,” with ships idle due to problems retaining the staff needed to service and maintain them. Of the navy’s eight remaining ships, five are currently operational.

Golding said the HMNZS Manawanui underwent a maintenance period before the deployment.

In this photo provided by New Zealand Defence Force, New Zealand's Defense Minister Judith Collins speaks at Auckland's Whenuapai Air Force Base, on Sept. 10, 2024. (LAC Jalesa Noman/New Zealand Defence Force via AP)

In this undated photo provided by New Zealand's Defence Public Affairs, hydrographers onboard HMNZS Manawanui prep REMUS ready for surveying in Tonga during Op Calypso. (Petty Officer Chris Weissenborn/Defence Public Affairs via AP)

In this undated photo provided by New Zealand's Defence Public Affairs, a hydrographer surveys uncharted positions during the transit to Vanuatu on Op Calypso onboard HMNZS Manawanui. (Petty Officer Chris Weissenborn/Defence Public Affairs via AP)

In this undated photo provided by the New Zealand Defence Force, Lieutenant Commander Tala Mafile'o of the Royal Tongan Navy presents Commander Yvonne Gray, left, with a carved wooden bowl as a memento of the RNZN's participation in the 50th Anniversary Fleet Review. (New Zealand Defence Force via AP)

In this photo provided by New Zealand Defence Force, New Zealand's Defense Minister Judith Collins speaks at Auckland's Whenuapai Air Force Base, Sept. 10, 2024. (LAC Jalesa Noman/New Zealand Defence Force via AP)

FILE- Leader of the New Zealand opposition National Party, Judith Collins, speaks prior to entering a salmon factory in Christchurch, N.Z., July 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)