FOR Pakistan, it’s a thoroughly-deserved victory. It’s also a fantastic start to the series for the tourists.

Watching Misbah-ul-Haq’s side rise and fall to rise again and dent the hosts convincingly to assert their supremacy over them was nothing short of fascinating.

And wrapping up the victory within four days will certainly give Pakistan the confidence — and the edge — for the series ahead and set the tempo for what promises to be an intriguing contest between the two sides.

It continues Pakistan’s dominance over England since their 2-0 series win in the United Arab Emirates last year and on this performance, it seems that the end could be just as triumphant as the beginning for Misbah’s men.

It was also a personal triumph for paceman Mohammad Amir in his comeback Test. It was fitting that it was Amir who finished off the match, disturbing the stumps of Jake Ball for an emphatic finish.

Yasir Shah was the protagonist for the victory with an admirable performance, picking up 10 wickets on his maiden appearance in England.

He put Pakistan in front, striking twice after lunch and then when Johnny Bairstow and Chris Woakes seemed to be taking the game away.

Unable to add too much to their overnight score, Pakistan folded a lot quicker than I had expected.

The fact the tourists failed to extend their overall lead to the 300-mark was utterly disappointing to say the least. That no doubt would have been a decent chase to leave for their hosts.

Judging from what we know of the strength of both the teams, it indeed was understandable that the balance had tilted in favour of Pakistan. Which obviously turned out to be true before lunch as Rahat Ali dismissed the first three batsmen including England captain Alastair Cook.

Not easy for any team in chase of a target and also fearing survival on a double-paced and wearing wicket, England had a mountain to climb after Rahat’s early burst.

And with frequent bowling changes, Misbah kept the pressure on and Yasir kept showing why he could be the one to take Pakistan to glory.

His dismissal of Gary Ballance and Moeen Ali in six deliveries after lunch instilled the kind of confidence in the team that they needed to finish the job by the end of the fourth day.

But England have this uncanny tenacity to put their backs to the wall and defy the odds which they did through Ballance early on and later through Bairstow and Woakes.

They are also well aware of Pakistan’s potential and of their potent bowling attack.

Pakistan, however, ended that resistance with Yasir and Amir being inspirational late on.

In a cat-and-mouse game such as this there is no doubt in the fact that one who takes the lead in the series would dictate the proceedings for the rest of the remaining summer.

And Pakistan, the underdogs on this tour, have taken the lead.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2016