Skipper Ben Stokes termed England’s Rawalpindi Test win over Pakistan as one of their greatest away victories in the longest format.

The three Lions registered a comprehensive 74-run victory over the hosts on the final day to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series.

On a flat Rawalpindi track, the Test match was heading towards a draw before England made a brave declaration in their second innings at 264/7, setting a target of 343 for Pakistan.

After completing the win on Monday (December 5), Stokes stated that his team had "no interest in trying to play for a draw."

“We wanted to come here to Pakistan and carry on with our mantra of exciting cricket," Stokes said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

"I've got no interest in trying to play for a draw, the dressing room has no interest in playing for a draw. Felt on this kind of wicket, almost had to entice the batsmen to play an attacking shot."

Earlier, the tourists racked up a mammoth 657/10 in their first innings with four batters – Harry Brook (153), Zak Crawley (122), Ben Duckett (107) and Ollie Pope (108) – smashing centuries.

“We've played 8-9 matches with myself and Brendon in charge. One thing we try to do is focus on ourselves and not the opposition. We know we're a very exciting team.

"Was a great batting surface, so it was an opportunity for our batting group. Having the lads truck in like they did today was amazing. Really special group of players."

Hailing the win as one of England's greatest, Ben Stokes said: “Today we were fortunate to get the ball reverse-swinging. James Anderson and Ollie Robinson were fantastic today. We won probably about 8 minutes before we would've come off. This is probably up there as one of England's greatest away wins.”

On the other hand, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam admitted that they were "not up to the mark".

“We were not up to the mark. Had a golden chance in the second innings, but session by session we lost wickets. Our bowling group is young.

"Unfortunately Haris injured himself in the first innings. All credit to the bowlers who bowled well and tried without Haris. We tried to stick to our plans.”

“Difficult when opponent goes at 7 an over. We had an opportunity in the second innings. But we didn't get partnerships in the end. Lot of positives. Our batting performed very well."

(With ICC inputs)