Spinners Khan and Ali claim all 20 England wickets to earn Pakistan a 152-run win in 2nd test

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Noman Ali and Sajid Khan claimed all 20 wickets on a recycled turning pitch as Pakistan ended a long wait for a home win with a 152-run victory over England in the second test on Friday.

Left-arm spinner Ali took 8-46 to finish with a match haul of 11 wickets and England was bowled out for 144 inside the first session on Day 4 on a tailor-made dry wicket.

Off-spinner Khan took 2-93 to go with his 7-111 in the first innings as both spinners bowled unchanged and ran through the tourists' batting lineup after Pakistan had set up a daunting target of 297 runs.

The win was first for captain Shan Masood, who lost six tests in a row since being elevated as red-ball skipper last year. It also ended Pakistan’s winless 11-match home run that included four losses against England.

Pakistan's last home test win came against South Africa in early 2021. Since, besides losing to England, it also lost home tests to Australia and recently 2-0 to Bangladesh.

“The first one is always special, after some rough times,” Masood said. “For the boys to step in, a lot has happened this past week, but we came up with a strategy to get 20 wickets and we made it happen.”

Masood was referring to Pakistan’s wholesale changes for the second test. Debutant Kamran Ghulam made an impeccable century in the first innings after he replaced out-of-form Babar Azam at No. 4 and Pakistan gambled with spinners Khan and Ali, who haven’t played red-ball cricket for nine months.

“Noman and Sajid are seasoned campaigners,” Masood said. “For Kamran it’s never easy to replace one of the best batters (Babar Azam) in the world, but to get that century was special.”

England capitulated against Khan and Ali for the second time in the match after it resumed on 36-2 and needed a further improbable 261 runs for victory of a tricky turning wicket.

Khan gleefully accepted a return catch from Ollie Pope on his second ball of the day before Ali cut through by claiming all the remaining seven wickets as the tourists failed to counter the spin through their sweeps and reverse sweeps.

Captain Ben Stokes, who returned to lead the side after recovering from a torn hamstring, top-scored with 37 before falling in a bizarre fashion. Stokes charged down the wicket to Ali, but the bat flew out of England captain’s hand to backward square leg and he was stumped.

Brydon Carse smashed three sixes against Khan and scored 27 before he edged Ali in the slips as England couldn’t counter the spinners on a wicket which had plenty of cracks and turn.

“We felt we were still in the game and came to chase that down,” Stokes said. “When Pakistan were ahead of the game they could really put their foot down. Tough ask for us, but the way we took the game on today was the only way we could win.”

England had its moments on a difficult wicket before succumbing to Pakistan spinners for 291 runs in the first innings. Ben Duckett scored a century but the middle-order crumbled against Khan and England conceded a vital 75-run lead.

In Pakistan’s second innings, wicketkeeper Jamie Smith and Joe Root dropped Salman Ali Agha in space of three balls before the all-rounder scored a crucial 63 and increased Pakistan’s lead to 296 runs.

“Ben Duckett’s first-innings hundred showed us the way,” Stokes said. “I don’t like to live by hindsight ... no-one means to drop catches, but you don’t get them often behind the wicket (in these conditions).”

England won the first test by an innings and 47 runs last week after posting a record-breaking 823-7 declared. The series-deciding third test begins at Rawalpindi from next Thursday.

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

Pakistan's Noman Ali, second left, and teammates celebrates after winning the second test cricket match against England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Pakistan's Noman Ali, right, and teammates celebrates after winning the second test cricket match against England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Pakistan's Shan Masood, fourth left, and teammates celebrates after winning the second test cricket match against England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Pakistan's Noman Ali, center, and teammates celebrates after winning the second test cricket match against England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Pakistan's Kamran Ghulam, center, shakes hand with England's Shoaib Bashir, fifth right, as his teammate celebrate after winning the second test cricket match against England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Pakistan's Noman Ali, right, chats with Mohammad Rizwan as they walk off the field after winning the second test cricket match against England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Pakistan's Noman Ali, left, shakes hand with England's Matthew Potts, center, after winning the second test cricket match against England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Pakistan's Noman Ali, right, celebrates after taking the wicket of England's Joe Root, second right, during the fourth day of the second test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Pakistan's Noman Ali appeals for LBW out of England's Joe Root during the fourth day of the second test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Pakistan's Noman Ali, second right, celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of England's Joe Root, second right, during the fourth day of the second test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Pakistan's Sajid Khan celebrates after taking the wicket of England's Ollie Pope during the fourth day of the second test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group said Friday it is entering a new phase in its fight against invading Israeli troops, as the region continued to reckon with Israel's claim that top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been killed in a battle with Israeli forces in Gaza the previous day.

Hamas has still not responded to the Israeli announcement, but its ally Iran released a statement commemorating the Palestinian militant leader via its mission to the United Nations. Sinwar was a chief architect of the attack on southern Israel that precipitated the latest escalating conflicts in the Middle East.

Many, from the governments of Israeli allies to exhausted residents of Gaza, expressed hope that Sinwar's death would pave the way for an end to the war, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech announcing the killing that “Our war is not yet ended.”

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish combatants from civilians. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.

Here's the latest:

JERUSALEM — Israeli police are set to indict a Palestinian from East Jerusalem Friday, who they say planned to carry out an attack on a hostage protest in Tel Aviv.

In a statement Friday, the police and Israel’s Shin Bet security agency said the man was a supporter of Hamas and other militant groups, and planned to carry out multiple attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers in retribution for Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

The man had not yet acquired a weapon or explosives to carry out any of the attacks, the police said, adding that he was planning to attack a protest calling for the return of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Such protests occur weekly in Tel Aviv.

BEIRUT — Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group says it is entering a new phase in its fight against invading Israeli troops, adding that it has introduced new weapons over the past days.

A statement from the group’s operations room early Friday said that Hezbollah’s fighters have used new types of precision-guided missiles and explosive drones for the first time.

The statement appears to refer to a drone laden with explosives that evaded Israel’s multilayered air-defense system and slammed into a mess hall at a military training camp deep inside Israel, killing four soldiers and wounding dozens.

The group also announced earlier this week that it fired a new type of missile called Qader 2 toward the suburbs of Tel Aviv.

The statement also said that Hezbollah’s air defense units shot down this week two Israeli Hermes 450 drones.

Hezbollah said its fighters are working according to “plans prepared in advance” to battle invading Israeli troops in several parts of south Lebanon.

UNITED NATIONS — Iran’s Mission to the United Nations issued a statement honoring Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, after Israel said Thursday he had been killed in fighting:

“When U.S. forces dragged a disheveled Saddam Hussein out of an underground hole, he begged them not to kill him despite being armed. Those who regarded Saddam as their model of resistance eventually collapsed. However when Muslims look up to martyr Sinwar standing on the battlefield — in combat attire and out in the open, not in a hideout, facing the enemy — the spirit of resistance will be strengthened. He will become a model for the youth and children who will carry forth his path for the liberation of Palestine. As long as occupation and aggression exist, resistance will endure, for the martyr remains alive and a source of inspiration.”

Iran and Iraq fought a brutal war in the 1980s that began when Hussein launched an invasion of Iran. It killed more than 1 million people on both sides.

An Israeli security forces officer examines the damage to a home struck by a rocket fired from Lebanon in the town of Majd al-Krum, northern Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israelis celebrate the news of the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, near Kibbutz Erez, southern Israel, on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

FILE - Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in Gaza, delivers a speech during at a hall on the seaside of Gaza City, on April 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

FILE - Yahya Sinwar speaks to foreign correspondents in his office in Gaza City on May 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)

A demonstrator holds a sign about the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during a protest calling for a cease-fire deal and the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Displaced men fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's Dahiyeh suburb, eat as sit at Beirut's seaside promenade, along the Mediterranean Sea while the sun sets over the capital Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)