England vs Pakistan: Tourists lacked the mental toughness required to bat out a draw and save Test

The psychology needed to overcome near impossible tasks, such as the one faced by Pakistan in saving the second Test, is possessed by few men. Which may explain why, without a major contribution from Misbah-ul-Haq, the captain, their resistance - even collectively - was negligible and England won easily by 330 runs to restore parity with two Tests remaining.

So far Misbah has been the pillar in Pakistan’s batting order, holding it together for a hundred at Lord’s, where they made enough runs for their bowlers to fashion victory. Here at Old Trafford his half-century in the first innings was a lesson to his team mates in what could be achieved with some application - a lesson unheeded by the time they came to bat again.

But how do you approach a task like the one faced by Pakistan, which is to withstand England’s marauding bowling attack for 184 overs, or about 12 hours on a pitch alien to your style of play?

Alastair Cook’s decision not to enforce the follow-on was met with widespread puzzlement on Sunday afternoon, after England had dismissed their opponents for 198. But he obviously saw something in Pakistan’s batsmen from that first innings, which deflated them when faced with big totals. So he batted again until England were 564 runs ahead before re-examining their mettle.

Great rearguards have a special place in cricket and are remembered with great fondness but only if defeat is avoided. Michael Atherton’s 10 hour-43 minute vigil in Johannesburg 20 years ago, to draw a Test against South Africa that looked lost, is every bit as much of the folklore as Ian Botham’s Headingley heroics against the Aussies in 1981. Yet acts like that, where avoiding defeat rather than gaining victory is the prize, are rare. Why? Because it takes a special powers to summon the massive levels of skill and concentration needed for such long periods while knowing that victory is beyond you.

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Pakistan could not do it here on a pitch remarkably similar to the one in Johannesburg all those years ago. And while it would be harsh to say they did not even try to stave off defeat here at Old Trafford, many of their batsmen gave the impression, following their poor first innings, that this was a Test to write off, a bit like a bad debt.

There may be something to be said for not wasting energy on inevitable outcomes. Not our turn with the toss, not our pitch, not our day, not our week, whatever. Let’s put it behind us and move on.

How much this humiliating defeat will affect Pakistan won’t be known until the next Test at Edgbaston next week. They will be hoping for a pitch there that is unlike this one, the pace and bounce at Old Trafford proving completely alien to cricketers who play most of their matches on slow, bland, turners in the United Arab Emirates.

In that respect, the surface hindered their bowlers as much as their batsman, especially their wrist-spinner, Yasir Shah. Having bamboozled England with 10 wickets at Lord’s, Yasir took one for 266 at Old Trafford, the extra bounce in the pitch negating his modus operandi of bowling for lbws while forcing him to adopt other strategies about which he was less certain. England played him superbly though and Pakistan’s competitiveness in the remainder of the series will depend on how much this setback here has dented his confidence.

There was no ebb and flow to this Test, as is often the case on true surfaces. From the moment Cook won the toss and batted first, England ruled the baize. Indeed, the only setback suffered was a calf injury to Ben Stokes, who in that wholehearted way of his, probably overdid the exuberance after seven weeks out following knee surgery. He will be missed, certainly for the next Test and possibly, depending on the result of that, for the rest of the series.

Only Cook’s lack of ruthlessness in enforcing the follow-on was controversial. But while you can argue about the means there can be no quibble over the final result, which is overwhelming victory for England.