A stellar career came to an end this Monday when England’s & World’s second-most prolific Test fast bowler announced his retirement from the sport after a career spanning 17 years. A run that culminated in a dream farewell, when he probably thought this was his last ever Test delivery & swung the ball enough to edge Murphy. He then came back to strike Carey in the next over to level the Ashes series 2-2. He became only the second bowler ever to have a wicket on his last-ever Test delivery. Despite Broad having a mammoth 115 wickets against Australia, there were also several times when the fans witnessed Broad destroying Pakistan on the 22 yards.
The six-foot tall gave memorable performances throughout his career whether it was a devastating spell of 8-15 against Australia (Trent Bridge), 6-17 against South Africa (Johannesburg), or his two Test hat tricks against India/SL. Let’s have a look at five times when we saw Broad destroying Pakistan, at his carnage best:
1st Test at Manchester 2020 (3/54 & 3/37)
Pakistan toured England during the testing times of the Covid-19 outbreak. The series was scheduled to take place in a biosecure bubble & after a lot of players tested positive the series still went ahead.
Batting first Pakistan got bowled out for 326 as Broad was the pick of the bowlers with a figure of 3/54 which included the big scalp of centurion Shan Masood (156) & Asad Shafiq. England got bowled out for 219 handing Pakistan a healthy lead of 109 but they failed to capitalize on it courtesy of another hostile spell from Broad 3/37 who once again got Shan out & then got the important wickets of Shadab & Yasir Shah who were looking to stretch the target. England chased the target of 277 to win the Test.
2nd Test at Abu Dhabi 2012 (4/47 & 58*)
Pakistan hosted the then World No.1 ranked side England in the UAE for a three-match test series. Pakistan took the first test quite easily winning by 10 wickets. In the 2nd Test Broad bowled a brilliant spell of 4/47 dismissing the likes of Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah & Adnan Akmal. His bowling helped England bowled out the green shirts for a mere 257. In reply England took an important 70-run lead thanks to Broad’s gutsy 58* (6x4s & 1x6s) from only 62 balls at a strike rate of 93.54 against a spin bowling duo of Saeed Ajmal & Abdur Rehman.
However, his contributions were not enough as England failed to chase down a target of 145 runs to level the series & got bowled out on 72 in the second innings to hand Pakistan a famous series win.
Also read: Four key highlights in Stuart Broad’s illustrious career
3rd Test at Dubai 2012 (4/36)
In the final test of that 2012 tour to UAE, the top-ranked test side England wanted to avoid a whitewash. Pakistan won the toss & batted first. Stuart Broad, along with James Anderson, wreaked havoc on Pakistan batters and bundled out the visitors on 99 giving England a massive chance of taking a big lead. Broad bagged four wickets for just 36 runs in an amazing display of seam bowling, hunting the scalps of Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, and Adnan Akmal.
But England failed to take advantage & got bundled out for 141 themselves. Pakistan then gave the Englishmen a decent target of 324 to chase which they ultimately failed to do so & hence Pakistan completed a famous whitewash.
4th Test at Lords 2010 (169 Runs)
In the infamous tour to England in 2010, Pakistan was trailing the series by 2-1 coming into the final test. England’s batting first was reduced to 102-7 courtesy of some hostile bowling spell by Mohammad Amir. Stuart Broad walked into bat to partner with Jonathan Trott & went on to smash 169 runs in a partnership of 332, a World record for the 8th wicket. His innings included 18 fours & one six against a dangerous bowling attack that consisted of Amir, Asif, Wahab & Ajmal.
He also etched his name on the Lord’s honor board for his sensational innings. England went on to win the test by an innings & 255 runs after dismissing Pakistan for 74 & 147 and subsequently won the series 3-1. Broad was named the man of the match for his 169 and three wickets as well.
5th ODI at Southampton 2010 (3/25)
Pakistan played England in a 5-match ODI series in 2010 with Shahid Afridi leading the team. The men in green came from 2-0 down to level the series 2-2 with the series decider in Southampton.
England batted first to post a target of 257, courtesy of Eoin Morgan’s brilliant knock of 107*. Pakistan in reply was cruising at one stage for 63-0 in 12.3 overs with well-set Kamran & Hafeez at the crease. That’s when the young Broad stepped up, he got two wickets in two balls by dismissing Hafeez (29) & then followed it up by getting Asad Shafiq out. Pakistan never recovered from here & went on to collapse to a total of 135. Broad was the pick of the bowlers with the figures of 3/25.
