England captain Ben Stokes took the risk. And he gave a target of just 342 runs. So Pakistan and England had equal chances of winning the match. But the Pakistani batsmen could not stand in front of England's experienced batsmen on the last day. No batsman could stay at the crease for long. If Imam Ul Haque or Rizwan would have been able to score a century then maybe Pakistan would have been able to win the match. But the Pakistani players could not stand in front of the outstanding bowling of Robinson and Anderson. Robinson and Anderson took four wickets each.
In the end we have to admit that it was incredibly risky move from Ben Stokes. This is the same pitch where Pakistan made a total of 579 just two days ago. And somehow Stokes decided to gamble on an unlikely win rather than settling for a draw. This is a precious lesson for the PCB, not to prepare substandard matches for tests against quality teams. If the opponent has quality, they will win the match no matter how hard the curators try to create flat surfaces. The second test will start in three days from now at Multan. Hopefully the pitch quality will be better.
You are right. It was a fitting lesson for the Pakistan Cricket Board. Pakistan made a flat pitch. And their aim was to draw the match by any means. Because it would have been very difficult for Pakistan to win against this England team if the pitch had been bowling-friendly. Pakistan's squad has very few experienced batsmen.
I would say Ben Stokes is the main hero for England to win this match. Had there been any other captain in place of Ben Stokes, he would have decided to draw the match. But Ben Stokes took the risk. He may want to win or lose. He is very lucky that he was able to win.