Captain Joe Root led from the front as England demolished Pakistan 3-0, winning the Edgbaston Test by 8 wickets inside Lunch on Day 4. There were notable performances from the entire team, but in the tricky chase, Joe Root stood up and led from the front, and Jordan Cox had him in good company as England won the match and clean-swept their opponents. England had to work hard a bit, but the better team won in the end.
Pakistan were woeful with the bat in the first innings and inconsistent with the ball as they played catch-up cricket yet again. But the Men in Green showed some promise in the end and had positives like Shan Masood and Razaullah giving them something to cheer about. But it was too little, too late as England wrapped up the proceedings by Lunch on Day 4.
All-Round England led by a 4-wicket haul from Josh Tongue skittled Pakistan out for 133 in 33.5 overs
Put into bat first under overcast conditions, Saim Ayub and Azan Awais came out to open the batting for Pakistan while Ollie Robinson had the ball in hand for England. The opening duo could add just 8 runs for the opening wicket before Ayub fell for a 10-ball duck to Ollie Robinson. Abdullah Shafique came out to bat next. The duo added 6 more runs to the tally before Awais fell for 9 off 20 balls with 2 fours to his name to Jofra Archer. Shan Masood came out to bat next.
The duo added 10 runs to the score before Shafique fell for 3 off 16 balls to Ollie Robinson. Captain Babar Azam joined Shan at the crease. Just 2 runs were added to the score before Shan Masood fell for 5 off 7 balls with one four to his name to Archer. Saud Shakeel came out to bat next. Babar and Saud tried to forge some sort of a partnership to help Pakistan bounce back and added 22 runs for the 5th wicket before Babar fell for 7 off 18 balls with one four to his name clean bowled by Josh Tongue. Keeper batter Ghazi Ghori on debut walked out to bat next.
Ghazi and Shakeel added 16 runs for the 6th wicket before the debutant Ghori fell for 4 off 5 balls with a boundary to his name to Tongue. Muhammad Imran Randhawa came out to bat next. Shakeel and Randhawa added 20 runs for the 7th wicket before Randhawa fell for 5 off 14 balls to Tongue who cleaned him up. Razaullah came out to bat next. Razaullah played his shots as the duo added 17 runs for the 8th wicket before Razaullah fell for 11 off 11 balls with 2 fours to his name to Robinson. Mohammad Abbas came out to bat next.
Shakeel and Abbas added 6 more runs to the score before Shakeel the set batter fell for 43 off 47 balls with 7 fours to his name to Tongue who cleaned him up. Mohammad Ali joined Abbas in the middle. The duo showed some fight with Abbas in particular showing his skills with the bat. The last wicket pair added 25 runs before Abbas was the last man out for 21 off 36 balls with 4 fours to his name to Archer. Ali remained unbeaten on 5 off 19 balls as Pakistan were skittled out for 133 in 33.5 overs. 20 extras given by England.
A great bowling performance by England led by Josh Tongue who finished with 4/42 in 10 overs. He was ably supported by Ollie Robinson who finished with 3/15 in 11 overs. Jofra Archer chipped in with 3/25 in 7.5 overs. Gus Atkinson was wicketless as he finished with 0/31 in 5 overs. Now, it was the turn of England to bat in their first innings.
All-Round batting display led by Harry Brook powered England to 453 in 89 overs.Â
In reply to Pakistan’s 133, England came out to bat with Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay opening the batting while Mohammad Abbas had the ball in hand for Pakistan. The opening duo added 12 runs inside 4 overs before Duckett was the first to depart for 11 off 15 balls with 2 fours to his name to Mohammad Ali. Jordan Cox came out to bat next. Cox and Gay could add only 12 more runs to the score before Cox fell for 4 off 6 balls to Mohammad Abbas. Captain Joe Root came out to bat next.
Root and Gay could add 15 runs for the third wicket before Root fell for 8 off 18 balls to Razaullah as England were in a spot of bother at 39/3. Vice-Captain Harry Brook joined Gay in the middle. The duo started to rebuild things and take England out of a precarious position with a solid partnership complimenting each other really well. Gay and Brook completed their half-centuries through the course of this innings. The duo added 104 runs for the 4th wicket before Gay fell for a well-made 60 off 114 balls with 9 fours to his name to Razaullah.
Daniel Lawrence joined Brook in the middle. Brook and Lawrence added a solid 86-run stand for the 5th wicket before the vice-captain Brook fell for a well-made 75 off 97 balls with 6 fours to his name thanks to a brilliant run out against the run of play. Jamie Smith the keeper batter came out to bat next. Lawrence and Smith forged another handy partnership as they put on 64 solid runs for the 6th wicket before Lawrence fell for 65 off 82 balls with 9 fours to his name to Randhawa as the batter dragged it onto the stumps. Gus Atkinson came out to bat next.
Smith and Atkinson added 38 runs for the 7th wicket before Atkinson fell for 19 off 36 balls with 4 fours to his name to Randhawa. Ollie Robinson came out to bat next. The tail began to wag for England as Smith completed his half-century as well. Smith and Robinson added 41 runs for the 8th wicket before Smith fell for 69 off 84 balls with 9 fours and one six to his name to Razaullah. Jofra Archer came out to the middle and played his shots.
Robinson too got into the act as these runs really hurt Pakistan badly. The duo complemented each other well and added 37 runs for the 9th wicket before Robinson after completing his half-century fell for 50 off just 47 balls with 7 fours and one six to his name to Razaullah. Josh Tongue came out to bat next. The last wicket pair played their shots especially Archer while Tongue too joined in the fun.
It was a hard toil for the Pakistani bowlers with Razaullah being the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/148 in 23 overs. Mohammad Ali chipped in with 2/92 in 19 overs. Muhammad Imran Randhawa chipped in with 2/47 in 16 overs. Mohammad Abbas finished with 1/95 in 23 overs. Saim Ayub finished with 0/41 in 8 overs. England took an enormous 320-run lead in the first innings and Pakistan were firmly on the back foot now.
Saim Ayub & Razaullah’s sparkling knocks propels Pakistan to a massive but respectable 449 in 96.4 overs
Faced with a deficit of 320 runs, Saim Ayub and Azan Awais came out to bat for Pakistan while Ollie Robinson had the ball in hand for England. The tourists got off to the worst possible start as Ayub was dismissed first ball of the innings for a golden duck to Robinson. Abdullah Shafique came out to bat next and fell 3 balls later for a bronze duck as Robinson had two wickets in four balls. Shan Masood came out to bat next.
At 0/2, things looked all doom and gloom for Pakistan. But from hereon, started the fightback from Pakistan and the fight that we didn’t see in this series so far. They played normal but positive cricket and played to the merit of the ball. To put things into perspective, Pakistan did not have a century run stand in the series and that was about to be changed now. The duo also took advantage of good batting conditions as well.
The first century stand came up as the duo added a healthy 125 runs for the third wicket before Azan fell against the run of play after completing his half-century scoring 59 off 84 balls with 10 fours to his name to Daniel Lawrence against the run of play. Captain Babar Azam came out to bat next. Masood had completed his fifty and looked good for more while Babar looked possessed and with a mission in this innings.
The experienced duo of Babar and Shan added 89 runs for the 4th wicket before Shan who looked good for a ton fell 5 short of it as he fell for 95 off 148 balls with 12 fours to his name to Gus Atkinson with Daniel Lawrence pulling off a stunner one-handed inches from the ground at gully region. Saud Shakeel came out to bat next. Babar was in his zone while Shakeel was the man in form coming into this innings.
The duo got together and forged another partnership which was valuable as they added 64 runs with Babar completing his half-century and going beyond as he looked hungry for more. But then Babar fell to the short ball as he fell for 76 off 103 balls with 11 fours and one six to his name to Tongue who got him for the second time in this Test match. Keeper batter Ghazi Ghori came out to bat next.
The duo of Saud and Ghori added 28 runs for the 6th wicket before Shakeel the man in form fell for 29 off 59 balls with 3 fours to his name to Archer. Muhammad Imran Randhawa came out to bat next. Just 6 runs were added to the tally before the keeper batter Ghori fell for 16 off 27 balls with 2 fours to his name to Atkinson. Razaullah came out to bat next. Just 6 runs were added to the score before Randhawa fell for 4 off 24 balls to Atkinson.
Mohammad Abbas came out to bat next. At this stage, Pakistan were 318/8 trailing by 2 runs with 2 wickets in hand. The end seemed near, but then came the twist and surprise. Razaullah suddenly counter-attacked and took the game to England which left them self-shocked. Abbas gave him great company as the partnership blossomed and entertained everyone on Day 3. Razaullah hit some clean shots while Abbas played his shots. The duo just flummoxed England and the hosts were out of ideas for the first time this innings.
The duo put on more than hundred runs as Razaullah hit 9 sixes to his name while Abbas played a stellar hand. The duo for the 9th wicket added 121 priceless runs before Abbas fell for 42 off 67 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Tongue. Mohammad Ali came out to bat next. Razaullah then went broke hitting a maximum while Ali too hit a boundary. The last wicket pair added 10 runs for the 10th wicket before Razaullah was the last man out for 81 off 63 balls with 4 fours and 9 sixes to his name to Daniel Lawrence.
Ali remained unbeaten on 4 off 5 balls with a boundary to his name as Pakistan finished with 449 in 96.4 overs with 43 extras conceded by England. It was a hard toil for the English bowlers this time. Gus Atkinson finished with 3/109 in 24 overs. Ollie Robinson finished with 2/54 in 23 overs. Josh Tongue finished with 2/106 in 22 overs. Daniel Lawrence chipped in with 2/17 in 4.4 overs. Jofra Archer finished with 1/120 in 22 overs. Harry Brook bowled an over for 4 runs. Pakistan lead by 129 runs and the target for England was 130 runs to win the series 3-0.
Joe Root & Jordan Cox guide England to a 8-wicket win and a series sweep
Chasing 130 for the win, Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay came out to open the batting for England while Mohammad Abbas had the ball in hand for Pakistan. Abbas gave Pakistan a dream start by dismissing Duckett for a golden duck off the first ball of the innings and Day 4 as the edge went through to the keeper. Keeper batter Jordan Cox came out to bat next. Just 2 runs were added to the score before Gay was trapped LBW as Abbas had two in the over. Gay went for a 4-ball duck.
Captain Joe Root came out to bat next and started the fightback and recovery by mixing caution with aggression. Cox played himself in and supported him well. Pakistan tried their best but it was not to be for them. Root looked good and rode his luck. When the team score was 35, Root had dragged one back onto the stumps but the bowler Mohammad Ali overstepped. Root got a reprieve and was never looking back. Thereafter, he edged one off Abbas but nobody in the slips moved at all.
But there was no looking back after that as the shoulders of Pakistan dropped past those chances. Cox and Root turned it on and did not give Pakistan an inch. The Men in Green tried different bowlers but no one threatened after Root got the chances. Cox also grew in confidence as both players completed their fifties and sealed the deal. The duo completed a century stand and went beyond as well. Root was the catalyst and Cox was his helping hand.
The duo added an unbroken 128-run stand for the third wicket and Cox hit the winning runs as England hunted down the target in 24.2 overs. Root was unbeaten on 62 off 69 balls with 8 fours to his name while Cox was unbeaten on 59 off 76 balls with 8 fours to his name as England finished with 130/2 in 24.2 overs. 9 extras given by the fielding side.
Mohammad Abbas was the pick of the b0wlers for Pakistan with figures of 2/27 in 8 overs. Razaullah finished with 0/39 in 5 overs. Mohammad Ali finished with 0/23 in 4 overs. Muhammad Imran Randhawa finished with 0/24 in 4 overs. Saim Ayub finished with 0/17 in 3 overs. So, England won by 8 wickets to clean sweep the series 3-0. Daniel Lawrence was adjudged Player of the Match while Mohammad Abbas and Ollie Robinson was awarded the Player of the Series from the respective countries. Robinson was also named the Player of the Summer.
So, with this the 3-match Test series between England and Pakistan came to an end. Next-up for England will be white-ball series against Sri Lanka starting on 15th September, 2026 while Pakistan have a little bit of a break now. As far as Test matches go, England will next play in mid December against South Africa in South Africa, a 3-match Test series. While Pakistan will host Sri Lanka in October-November.
Plenty of cricket coming our way in the coming days and months.
Also Read: ENG vs PAK: Shan Masood & Razaullah Leads Pakistan’s Stupendous Fightback