Spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan suppressed England’s batting attack inside three days and earned Pakistan a long-awaited and series-clinching nine-wicket win in the third and final Test in Rawalpindi on Saturday.

The 38-year-old left-arm spinner Ali and off-spinner Khan, 31, had grabbed all 20 wickets on a recycled second Test pitch to level the series last week and yet again clipped the batters on an engineered dry surface by sharing 19 wickets as England were dismissed for 112 on Day 3.

It was England’s lowest innings total in Pakistan, eclipsing their previous score of 130 all out in Lahore in 1987.

Pakistan, who got a meaningful 77-run first innings lead, reached 37/1 at the stroke of lunch to notch their first home series win since 2021 when they beat South Africa 2-0.

Skipper Shan Masood (23 not out), who lost six successive Test matches as captain before England got beaten in the second Test, sealed the win with a six over long-off against Shoaib Bashir after smashing four successive boundaries off Jack Leach.

Leach grabbed the only wicket to fall when he successfully went for an lbw television referral against Saim Ayub, who made eight.

The win was a sweet revenge for the home team, which was knocked over by England 3-0 when it last toured Pakistan two years ago under the captaincy of Ben Stokes.

England’s batting folded meekly against the spin duo for the second time around as Ali followed his three wickets in the first innings with 6/42 on a wicket which was dried out by industrial-sized giant fans and outdoor heaters.

Khan grabbed 4/69 to add to his first innings six-wicket haul as England batters couldn’t negotiate the variable bounce and the turn Khan and Ali extracted of the pitch.

England won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs before Pakistan succeeded in their ploy to reuse the same surface in Multan to counter England’s aggressive batting and recalled both Ali and Khan for the remaining two Tests.

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George Russell has suggested that “19 out of 20” drivers are aligned on what Formula 1’s racing guidelines should be and was pleased to see “unfair” racing manoeuvres penalised at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Russell, who serves as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, has been vocal on the need for the drivers, stewards and the FIA to discuss the current guidelines on racing in the wake of the US Grand Prix’s contentious battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

Speaking in Mexico, where the two championship contenders once again came under scrutiny for their on-track actions – Verstappen penalised 20 seconds for two violations –  Russell said that he expected the stewards to continue to take a hard-line approach.

He revealed that all but one driver was happy for the stewards to change their approach with penalising certain incidents immediately after Austin, rather than wait until 2025 for new guidelines.

“I think the stewards are totally on board with what needs to change,” Russell said.

“Our view is…I think the biggest discussion is they wanted to wait until ’25, so it’s something consistent through this year. I would say 19 out of 20 drivers said, ‘well, if it’s incorrect, make the change today’.

“And I’m glad to see those incidents were punished and I suspect moving forward in Brazil what we saw today [Sunday] and what we saw last week [in Austin] you won’t be able to get away with.

“You presume [it should be easy to change if everyone agrees], but it sometimes seems more difficult than it has to be when things have to get approved and we’ve got to go to a vote app. But as I said, 19 out of 20, we’re all aligned on where it needs to be.”

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Russell pointed to his own battle with team-mate Lewis Hamilton as “hard and fair” racing, in which the younger Briton held off his team-mate until the start of the 66th lap.

He also had his say on the Verstappen/Norris incident, stating that the Dutchman’s Turn 7 move – in which he carried significant overspeed into the corner and ran Norris off – was something he hadn’t seen since Verstappen’s move on Hamilton at Brazil in 2021.

“It was nice to have the battle and it’s always good when you fight with Lewis because it’s hard and fair,” Russell said.

“At the moment you’re seeing a number of manoeuvres that are just…it’s getting beyond entertaining or beyond sporting, it’s just almost unfair to a point now.

“You can argue the first one was maybe 60-40. The last one, I’ve not seen anything like that since probably Brazil [2021].”

MARSEILLE boss Roberto De Zerbi slammed the performance of Mason Greenwood after hooking him off at half-time.

They were beaten 3-0 against Paris Saint-Germain last night as they fell six points behind their rivals at the top of the Ligue 1 table.

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Greenwood started the game dubbed “Le Classique” on the right-wing but struggled in the opening 45 minutes.

He failed to get into the game and was often pinned back in his own half as PSG dominated.

The one-time capped England international also did not register a shot and gave possession away four times with his passes.

Greenwood was hauled off at the break, with fellow Englishman Jonathan Rowe replacing him.

Asked about the change after the game, De Zerbi said: “Because I didn’t like the way he played.

“If we want to compete for the title we have to push in all matches.

“He’s a good guy but I expected a lot more from him this evening.”

Since joining Marseille in a £26.6million deal from Manchester United, Greenwood has scored six goals in nine game.

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But a drought in front of goal has seen the 23-year-old find the back of the net just once in his last six games.

Off the pitch, Greenwood continues to settle into life in France and his girlfriend Harriet Robson is expecting their second child.

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Curry, who has an extensive history of ankle injuries, scored 18 points as the Warriors lost their first game of the NBA season.

Ivica Zubac and James Harden both totalled 23 points for the Clippers.

It was Zubac’s second successive double-double as the Croatian put up 17 rebounds with six assists to go with his 23 points.

“Every time they needed a bucket, they seemed to get one from Zubac,” Kerr said.

Elsewhere, the Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons 124-118 while the Houston Rockets narrowly lost 109-106 against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Miami Heat cruised past the Charlotte Hornets 114-106 after unveiling a statue of franchise legend Dwayne Wade.

Wade, 42, is Miami’s leading all-time scorer and led the Heat to three NBA Championships over two stints in Florida.

Spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan suppressed England’s batting attack inside three days and earned Pakistan a long-awaited and series-clinching nine-wicket win in the third and final Test on Saturday.

The 38-year-old left-arm spinner Ali and off-spinner Khan, 31, had grabbed all 20 wickets on a recycled second Test pitch to level the series last week and yet again clipped the batters on an engineered dry surface by sharing 19 wickets as England was dismissed for 112 on Day 3.

It was England’s lowest innings total in Pakistan, eclipsing its previous score of 130 all out in Lahore in 1987.

Pakistan, which got a meaningful 77-run first innings lead, reached 37-1 at the stroke of lunch to notch its first home series win since 2021 when it beat South Africa 2-0.

Skipper Shan Masood (23 not out), who lost six successive test matches as captain before England got beaten in the second test, sealed the win with a six over long-off against Shoaib Bashir after smashing four successive boundaries to Jack Leach.

It’s special, Masood said. The first win came after a long time and it was backed up by a series win it’s about character. To be here and standing as the wining team, it’s the most special thing for us.

Leach grabbed the only wicket to fall when he successfully went for an lbw television referral against Saim Ayub, who made eight.

The win was a sweet revenge for the home team, which was knocked over by England 3-0 when it last toured Pakistan two years ago under the captaincy of Ben Stokes.

England’s batting folded meekly against the spin duo for the second time around as Ali followed his three wickets in the first innings with 6-42 on a wicket which was dried out by industrial-sized giant fans and outdoor heaters.

Khan grabbed 4-69 to add to his first innings six-wicket haul as England batters couldn’t negotiate the variable bounce and the turn Khan and Ali extracted of the pitch.

England won the first test by an innings and 47 runs before Pakistan succeeded in its ploy to reuse the same surface in Multan to counter England’s aggressive batting and recalled both Ali and Khan for the remaining two test matches.

Disappointing, said Stokes, who missed out on England’s memorable win in the first test recovering from torn hamstring, but returned to lead the side in yougher conditions for his batters. We got thrown some challenges over these last two games and weren’t able to stand up to them, credit to Pakistan.

Resuming on a precarious 24-3, Joe Root (33) and Harry Brook (26) cut down the deficit to 11 runs before England lost wickets in cluster.

Brook got a thick edge when he tried to cut Ali and the left-arm spinner had Stokes lbw off an armed ball which the England captain awfully tried to leave. England was still trailing by two runs when Jamie Smith (3) charged down the wicket to Khan and had his off stump knocked over and England slipped to 6-75.

Khan then ended Root’s grim resistance by finding the outside edge before England’s tail folded quickly against the spin duo.

The lads trained hard but when you get out in the middle it can be completely different, Stokes conceded.

The 2-1 series win was Masood’s first series win since he was appointed test captain last year, but lost six test matches in a row. Australia routed Pakistan 3-0 under Masood’s leadership and Bangladesh recorded a stunning 2-0 win in Pakistan before England racked up record-breaking 823-7 decl. to hand Masood another defeat.

We’d like to dedicate this (series win) to the people of Pakistan, who’ve been through a lot, Masood said. Hopefully this will put a smile on people’s face, and hopefully we can have full houses