Hosts England were too hot to handle at Leeds, Headingley as the return to captaincy for Joe Root started on a perfect note. From the toss to the end of the match, it was a game dominated by England. Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue & Co set it up and then the batters delivered a powerful batting performance before their bowlers once again shone to get the game done and dusted inside Tea on Day 3.
Pakistan had their moments with the bat and the ball here and there, but they were not consistent enough to get the job done and fell short in all facets of the game. England just outplayed Pakistan in all forms of the game. Pakistan with loads of work to do and must hope that their original captain Babar Azam comes back to lead the side at Lord’s. It was as one sided a game that we could ever get.
Ollie Robinson & Josh Tongue’s 5-wicket hauls skittles Pakistan out for 171 in 48.1 overs
Put into bat first under overcast conditions, Azan Awais and Imam-ul-Haq opened the batting for Pakistan while Ollie Robinson had the ball in hand for England. Robinson gave England the perfect start as he removed Azan for a golden duck off the first ball of the series where Azan wasted a review as well. Shan Masood came out to bat next. Just 6 runs were added to the tally before Shan fell for 5 off 20 balls to Robinson who had two wickets to his name. Abdullah Shafique came out to bat next.
Shafique and Masood then got together and started to rescue Pakistan from this rocking start. They played themselves in and made merry of the conditions. The duo of Imam and Shafique adapted themselves really well and put Pakistan back on track for a decent total. The duo put on 91 runs for the third wicket before Imam fell for 42 off 74 balls with 6 fours to his name to Josh Tongue. Saud Shakeel came out to bat next.
The duo of Shafique and Shakeel added 20 runs to the tally before Shakeel fell for 5 off 25 balls with one four to his name to Robinson. Captain Salman Ali Agha came out to bat next. Just one run was added to the score before Shafique who had completed his fifty fell for a well-made 61 off 104 balls with 8 fours to his name to Robinson who cleaned him up. Keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan came out to bat next.
Rizwan and captain Salman tried to forge a partnership and added a vital 32 runs for the sixth wicket before the captain Salman Ali Agha fell for 21 off 29 balls with 4 fours to his name to Tongue who cleaned him up. Ali Usman came out to bat next and was adjudged plumb LBW to Tongue again who had two in two balls and was on a hat-trick which was denied. Khurram Shahzad came out to bat as well.
Just 9 runs were added to the tally before Rizwan the last recognised batter fell for 12 off 19 balls with one four to his name to Tongue. Mohammad Abbas joined Shahzad in the middle. The duo added 12 runs for the 9th wicket before Shahzad fell for 14 off 12 balls with 3 fours to his name to Robinson. Mohammad Ali came out to bat next. The score stayed at 171 when Abbas was the last man out for 2 off 5 balls clean bowled by Tongue.
Ali was unbeaten on 0 off 0 balls as Pakistan were bowled out for 171 in 48.1 overs, 9 extras given by the fielding side.
For England, it was the performance of two bowlers who stood out. Ollie Robinson was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 5/51 in 18 overs. He was ably supported by Josh Tongue who finished with 5/46 in 9.1 overs. Jofra Archer finished with 0/26 in 9 overs. Gus Atkinson finished with 0/40 in 12 overs. Just four bowlers used by England. It was England’s turn to bat in the first innings.
All-round batting display led by Harry Brook’s 91 powers England to 409 in 89.5 overs
Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay came out to open the batting for England while Mohammad Abbas had the new ball in hand for England. The openers gave England a decent start at a fair clip as the duo put on 36 for the first wicket inside 9 overs before Duckett fell for 15 off 28 balls to Mohammad Abbas. Jordan Cox came out to bat next. Gay looked fluent and got a start as he put on 12 runs for the second wicket with Cox before falling for 33 off 31 balls with 7 fours to his name to Mohammad Ali with England at 48/2 in 10 overs.
Captain Joe Root came out to bat next. Thereafter, it was the Root-Cox show from hereon as they took the game away from Pakistan. Root was the aggressor of the two initially as he dominated the bowling on Day 1 while Cox grew in confidence and did the same on Day 2. The duo complimented each other really well and put on 150 runs for the third wicket. Both players completed their respective half-centuries. Cox eventually fell for 73 off 100 balls with 14 fours to his name to Ali Usman. Harry Brook came out to bat next.
Just 4 runs were added to the score before Root the captain fell for 66 off 112 balls with 10 fours to his name to Khurram Shahzad. Daniel Lawrence came out to bat next with the team just past the 200-run mark. Brook and Lawrence also got together and put on another big partnership that took the game completely away from the visiting team. They scored quickly with Brook and Lawrence playing at a fast speed. The duo added 120 runs for the 5th wicket before Lawrence fell for 51 off 79 balls with 9 fours to his name to Usman.
Keeper batter Jamie Smith came out to bat next. Brook and Smith tried to forge another partnership and added 34 runs for the 6th wicket before Harry Brook fell for 91 off 93 balls with 13 fours to his name to Usman who cleaned him up. Gus Atkinson came out to bat next. Just 8 runs were added to the tally before Atkinson fell for 3 off 15 balls to Usman. Ollie Robinson came out to bat next and fell first ball for a golden duck bowled as the bowler was on a hat-trick.
Jofra Archer came and survived the hat-trick ball. Archer and Smith started Day 3 and the duo added 28 valuable runs for the 9th wicket before Smith fell for 25 off 52 balls with 2 fours to his name to Shahzad. Josh Tongue came out to bat next. The tail wagged a bit. Archer played his shots and so did Tongue.
The last wicket pair added 17 runs for the final wicket before Tongue fell for 8 off 10 balls with 2 fours to his name to Shahzad. Archer remained unbeaten on 23 off 25 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name as England were bowled out for 409 in 89.5 overs. 21 extras given by the fielding side.
Ali Usman was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with figures of 5/95 in 24 overs. Khurram Shahzad finished with 3/133 in 21.5 overs. Mohammad Abbas finished with 1/78 in 25 overs. Mohammad Ali finished with 1/89 in 19 overs. Just 4 bowlers used by Pakistan as well. England led by 238 runs and it was Pakistan’s turn to bat in their second innings.
All-round bowling display led by Ollie Robinson bowls Pakistan out for 135 in 37.3 overs and register an innings win
Faced with a deficit of 238 runs, Azan Awais and Imam-ul-Haq came out to open the batting for Pakistan while Ollie Robinson had the ball in hand for England. Pakistan could not get off the mark when in the 11th ball of the innings, Imam fell for a 5-ball duck to Jofra Archer. Shan Masood came out to bat next. The duo added 13 runs for the second wicket before Azan fell for 9 off 14 balls with one four to his name to Archer. Abdullah Shafique came out to bat next.
Shan and Shafique tried to forge some sort of a partnership to help Pakistan recover from a shaky start. The duo who looked steady out there added 38 runs for the third wicket before Shafique fell for 15 off 29 balls with 2 fours to his name to Ollie Robinson. Saud Shakeel came out to bat next. Shan and Shakeel could add 17 runs for the 4th wicket before Shakeel fell for 14 off 24 balls with 3 fours to his name to Josh Tongue. Captain Salman Ali Agha came out to bat next.
Just 5 runs were added to the score before Shan the set batter fell for 29 off 56 balls with 5 fours to his name to Tongue. Keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan came out to bat next. Just 3 runs were added to the tally before Salman fell for 4 off 8 balls with one four to his name to Tongue. Ali Usman came out to bat next with Pakistan at 76/6.
Rizwan then played his game and played a few shots to add some runs to the Pakistan total. The duo added 19 runs for the 7th wicket before Usman fell for 7 off 22 balls with one four to his name to Robinson. Khurram Shahzad came out to bat next.
Shahzad got a couple of boundaries away through outside edges to the third man fence. Rizwan and Shahzad added 16 runs to the score for the 8th wicket before Shahzad fell for 8 off 9 balls with 2 fours to his name to Robinson. Mohammad Abbas came out to bat next as the end was near for Pakistan now. Rizwan played his shots and farmed the strike as much as he could. Abbas hung in there for a while.
The duo added 20 runs for the 9th wicket before Rizwan the last recognised batter fell for 41 off 39 balls with 5 fours to his name as he was cleaned up by Gus Atkinson. Mohammad Ali came out to bat next. Just 4 runs were added by the last pair before Abbas was the last man to fall for 6 off 19 balls with one four to his name to Archer. Ali remained unbeaten on 0 off 0 balls. Pakistan were bowled out for 135 in 37.3 overs. Just 2 extras given by the fielding side.
For England, it was an all-round bowling display led by Ollie Robinson who finished with 3/29 in 11 overs. Jofra Archer came to the party and chipped in with 3/50 in 10.3 overs. Josh Tongue finished with 3/43 in 7 overs. Gus Atkinson finished with 1/11 in 8 overs. Daniel Lawrence bowled an over and it was a maiden. So, England won the contest by an innings and 103 runs to go 1-0 up in the 3-match Test series. Ollie Robinson was adjudged the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
So, England lead the series 1-0 with 2 matches left in the series as they start their post Bazball era with a comprehensive innings win inside 3 days. The next Test will take place at the Home of Cricket at Lord’s in London from Thursday, 27th August, 2026. That is the venue for the second Test match where England would like to seal the series while Pakistan will hope to bounce back and hope their captain is fit and ready to go.
It was all England at Leeds, Headingley. Let’s see how the rest of the series pans out from here starting at Lord’s.
Also Read: ENG vs PAK: Harry Brook’s Swashbuckling Knock Sinks Pakistan