Pakistan’s batting implosion on the opening day of the third Test at Edgbaston on Wednesday inched England towards a 3-0 series whitewash.
Pakistan had been sent in to bat with 33.5 overs remaining and they were bowled out for only 133. Josh Tongue led the bowlers with 4-42, Ollie Robinson claimed 3-15 and Jofra Archer collected 3-25 to see England’s fast bowlers pick up the visitors.
Yet again, Pakistan started badly and was down 26-4 by the end of the first hour. After being dropped for 21 months, Saim Ayub got his scalp, as Robinson also dropped Azan Awais, Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood for a few runs.
Tongue then hit twice in his opening over, forcing Pakistan captain Babur Azam to depart for seven, and picking up the wicket of the wicketkeeper, Ghazi Ghori. He then bowled out Mohammad Imran and Saud Shakeel to reach his four-wicket, four-ball target. Shakeel finished with the top score of 43/47, but Pakistan’s best stand was the 26-run second wicket which was shared by Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Ali.
The match was also a huge change in the Pakistan squad. That came as Razaullah, 21, made his debut with Ghazi Ghori and Mohammad Imran as Pakistan looked to replace the seven players who were sent home after the second Test loss at Lord’s and sacked head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and assistant coach Umar Gul.
Razaullah immediately made an impact with the ball, he got England opener Emilio Gay for 60, and then Joe Root for 24. His bowlers parting with Root coincided with his fourth ball of Test cricket.
But England bounced back from a poor start. Gay and Harry Brook shared a century for partnership to take control of the innings after the loss of Ben Duckett, Jordan Cox and Root.
Gay had his best Test score of 60 out of 114 balls before he got bowled out late in the day. England finished at 156-4 with Dan Lawrence as Brook remained unbeaten at 52 for a 23-run margin.
Tongue said England’s four-man pacers had bowled well in the series and England’s dismissal of Pakistan for less than 101 put them in a good position.
Pakistan, who were bowled out with an innings and 103 runs in the first Test and 194 runs in the second, now have another tough assignment in their hands as they will not want to let England finish their sweep of the series.
