I believed I could get runs out here: England’s Ben Duckett after smashing 82 against Pakistan

Karachi [Pakistan], December 20 (ANI): After England sealed a 3-0 series win over Pakistan, Ben Duckett emphasised that he was more than just a specialist for his team and said that he believed that he could smash runs against the hosts in a third Test match.

Duckett sealed his comeback to Test cricket by scoring the decisive runs for England to complete a 3-0 series sweep in Pakistan. England defeated Pakistan by eight wickets in the final test of the three-match series to complete a 3-0 clean sweep after their comprehensive performance throughout the series here at the National Stadium, Karachi on Tuesday.

“I believed I could get runs out here and in these conditions. I just said to Stokesy [Ben Stokes], we believed we could win out here but to go out and win 3-0 is pretty incredible. It will take some time to reflect on how amazing that achievement is. If I’m being really critical, I actually believe I’ve left runs out there in this series. If you had offered me that at the start, I would have snapped your hand off for it. Last game, getting 60 and 70, in my eyes, I threw away two hundred. I felt like every time I tried to block it I didn’t feel too good, so I should just keep sweeping every ball,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Duckett as saying.

The second-highest run-scorer in the series, Duckett, concluded the tour with 357 runs after scoring 82 not out on the fourth morning. He surpassed Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel’s totals in the process.

“I’m just delighted. At the top of the order, when I do get runs, I want to put us in a position to win and I’m very happy I have been able to do that,” he further added.
Pakistan suffered their first series whitewash on home soil after the English team played an amazing brand of aggressive cricket to trounce them thrice in the test series.

On the fourth morning in Karachi, England required 38 minutes to finish off a decisive eight-wicket victory, eventually reaching their fourth-innings target of 167 in 28.1 overs.

After an unsuccessful bid to win the third Test in three days, England were a little more cautious on the fourth morning, but still took only 11.1 overs to complete the clean sweep with captain Ben Stokes undefeated on 35 at one end while Duckett with unbeaten 82 runs, at the other end.

England resumed their inning on the fourth day at 112-2, with Stokes at 15* and Duckett on 50*. The duo took England to victory within an hour only requiring close to 12 overs for the remaining 55 runs.

In an incredibly spectacular return to test cricket, Duckett continued to sweep, reverse-sweep, and paddle-sweep Abrar Ahmed while Stokes set the tone by muscling the third ball he faced through midwicket.

Earlier, Pakistan had suffered a dramatic collapse in their second inning which saw them lose their last 7 wickets for 52 runs, extending their lead to a paltry 166-run which was never going to be enough against the free-flowing English batting line-up.

Debutant Rehan Ahmed was the wrecker-in-chief as he scalped five wickets and made an excellent start to his test career.

Following the final match of his lengthy and illustrious international career for Pakistan, Azhar Ali was cheered off the field while holding a souvenir stump. The former Pakistan captain appeared in 97 tests and scored 7097 runs at 42.49, including 19 centuries.

Harry Brook, who amassed 468 runs in five innings to lead the tour, was declared Player of the Series after scoring three in the series.

Since Stokes and Brendon McCullum took over as captain and coach, respectively, England has won nine out of ten Test matches, a remarkable turnaround from a run of just one victory in 17 prior to their appointments. In their first Test series in Pakistan since 2005, they destroyed a fragile Pakistani team.