England ends Pakistan's dream run at National Stadium, Karachi

England registered a sensational six wicket win over Pakistan in the third and final Test match at Karachi's National Stadium in near darkness. With this victory England also clinched the series 1-0 - its first series win in Pakistan since 1961-62. But what is more remarkable with England's win is the fact that it ended Pakistan's unbeaten run at National Stadium, Karachi. Before this Test match Pakistan had never faced defeat on this ground in a Test match since the inaugural Test against India in 1954-55. Out of the 34 Tests that Pakistan played on this ground (prior to this one) the host nation won as many as 17 and succeeded in drawing the remaining 17. Pakistan's undefeated run in 34 Tests at National Stadium is the record of longest sequence for a country without defeat at a particular venue. West Indies had a undefeated run of 27 Tests at Bridgetown from 1947-48 to 1992-93. However the record of not losing a Test match at a particular venue for the longest period remains with England. It had not lost a single Test at Edgbaston for 72 years (from 1902 to 1974).

The accompanying table lists the instances of longest undefeated runs at a particular venue with Australia being the only visiting team to remain unbeaten at a venue on 15 consecutive occasions.

National Stadium, Karachi 34 17 17 Pak (Ind)1954-55 (SL) 1999-00 Bridgetown, Barbados 27 16 11 WI (Eng)1947-48 (Pak)1992-93 Old Trafford, Manchester 25 8 17 Eng (Aus)1905 (Pak)1954 Kingston, Jamaica 19 11 8 WI (Pak)1957-58 (Ind)1988-89 The Oval, London 18 10 8 Eng (Aus)1884 (SA) 1929 Besin Reserve, Wellington 18 6 12 NZ (WI) 1968-69 (Aus)1992-93 Edgbaston, Birmingham 16 9 7 Eng (Aus)1902 (Pak)1974 Lord's, London 15 7 8 Aus (Eng)1938 (Eng)1993 SCG, Sydney 15 7 8 Aus (Eng)1979-80 (WI) 1992-93

PS: Pakistan also won the only match played at Defence Stadium in Karachi (v Zimbabwe in 1993-94) which extends its tally of consecutive unbeaten matches in Karachi to 35.