England inflict first-ever 3-0 home Test whitewash on Pakistan

England beat Pakistan by eight wickets in the third and final Test in Karachi Tuesday to sweep the series 3-0 and hand the Pakistanis their first home whitewash.

“It won’t really sink in until we get home or in the new year,” skipper Ben Stokes said after securing what was only England’s second series whitewash in the subcontinent, following a similar result in Sri Lanka in 2018.

Resuming on 112-2, England reached the modest 167-run target in just 38 minutes, with Ben Duckett and Stokes finishing unbeaten on 82 and 35 respectively.

England won the first Test in Rawalpindi by 74 runs and the second in Multan by 26 runs.

This was England’s first Test tour of Pakistan since 2005, having refused to tour the South Asian country in the years since because of security concerns.

Duckett cracked his 12th boundary off fast bowler Mohammad Wasim to seal the victory on the fourth day, with England finishing on 170-2.

Agha Salman dropped Stokes off spinner Abrar Ahmed on 22 and with just 19 needed for victory.

With nine wins in their past 10 matches, England have vindicated their newly adopted freewheeling approach to Test cricket dubbed “Bazball”, after the nickname of coach Brendon McCullum.

McCullum and Stokes took charge of a misfiring side in May that had won just one of their previous 17 Tests, including a 4-0 humiliation in the Ashes in Australia.

England played power-packed cricket right from the start of the Pakistan tour, smashing 506-4 in Rawalpindi to set a record for the most team runs on the opening day of a Test.

Four batters -- Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook and Duckett -- scored hundreds that day, another record.