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England beat Pakistan by an innings and 103 runs inside three days at Headingley, bowling the tourists out for 135 before tea on Friday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue took eight wickets each, sixteen of the twenty between them, with Jofra Archer adding three. Joe Root’s first Test back as permanent captain could hardly have gone better.
Leeds, England: Pakistan faced 1,053 balls across this match. They needed to survive rather more than that.
England were dismissed for 409 around forty minutes into the third morning, Ali Usman collecting his fifth wicket to finish with a maiden Test five-for. That gave the hosts a lead of 238 and, as it turned out, considerably more than they required.
Thirteen for Two Before Anything Began
Jofra Archer, distinctly better than he had looked in the first innings, removed Imam-ul-Haq for a duck and then had Azan Awais for nine — the batter clipping straight to Root at leg slip, one of several unconventional field settings the captain was rewarded for.
Pakistan were 13 for 2 and never recovered from it. Saud Shakeel made 14 before picking out Dan Lawrence, and after lunch Josh Tongue produced the three-wicket burst that ended the contest, Shan Masood’s 29 among his victims and Salman Agha bowled.
Rizwan Alone, and Not for Long
Mohammad Rizwan top-scored with 41 and was the only Pakistan batter to look settled. In his 46th Test he failed to shepherd the tail, and once he went there was nothing behind him. Pakistan were all out for 135 in 37.3 overs, having been dismissed for 171 in 48.1 on the opening day.
ALSO READ: Robinson and Tongue share ten as Pakistan collapse for 171 on rain-hit Headingley opener
Robinson finished with 3 for 29 in the second innings and eight in the match, matching Tongue, who added 3 for 43 to his first-innings five-for. Between them the pair took sixteen of the twenty wickets to fall. Archer’s 3 for 50 completed a return that had begun with a wicketless first innings.
England’s four-pronged seam attack bowled consistently fuller than Pakistan managed at any point in the match, and the tourists never found an answer to it.
Root’s Beginning
For England this is a statement start to what the coverage has already labelled the post-Bazball era, with Root back as permanent captain for the first time since he stepped down in 2022.
“Brilliant performance,” Root said afterwards, pointing to the compressed preparation his side had — arriving straight from the Hundred — and to a squad in what he described as a slight transition. He praised the clarity with which they approached the week.
The batting had set it up on day two: Harry Brook’s 91, Jordan Cox’s 73, Root’s own 66 and Dan Lawrence’s 51, built on a first innings in which Robinson and Tongue had both taken five.
Questions for Pakistan, and Quickly
For the tourists, the second Test begins on Thursday at Lord’s, which leaves very little time to answer what this match asked. They were bowled out twice inside three days, managing 306 runs across both innings, and were beaten by an innings under a new opposing captain in his first match in charge.
Ali Usman’s five-wicket haul was the sole Pakistani success worth the name. That it came in a match where Robinson and Tongue shared sixteen wickets makes it a curiosity rather than a foundation.
Result: England 409 (Brook 91, Cox 73, Root 66, Lawrence 51; Ali Usman 5-95) beat Pakistan 171 (Abdullah Shafique 61, Imam-ul-Haq 42; Tongue 5-46, Robinson 5-51) and 135 (Rizwan 41; Robinson 3-29, Tongue 3-43, Archer 3-50) by an innings and 103 runs
Series: England lead the three-match series 1-0
Venue: Headingley, Leeds
