England's Pace Attack Dominates Pakistan at Lord's
Second Rothesay Test, Lord's (day two of five)
England 290 (Smith 61, Cox 55; Abbas 4-73) & 81-3 (Gay 30*)
Pakistan 110 (Awais 46; Robinson 4-11, Archer 3-26)
England lead by 261 runs
By the close at Lord’s, it felt less like a contest and more like a statement.
England’s four-man pace pack – Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson – dismantled Pakistan for 110 and then tightened their grip with the bat to move 261 ahead, a stranglehold that already looks decisive for the series.
On a ground that has seen some great England attacks, this one is beginning to carve out its own space.
Robinson and Archer turn the screw
The numbers are brutal. Pakistan’s highest total on tour is 171. Here, without the injured Imam-ul-Haq, they never looked close.
Only Azan Awais, with a battling 46, showed any real resistance. Extras, damningly, was the next best contributor.
England had stretched their first innings to 290 in the morning, Atkinson and Tongue dragging the 10th-wicket stand to 47 and adding 42 priceless runs. That surge shifted the mood. From then on, England bowled as if they knew they already had enough.
Archer lit the fuse. Lord’s does something to him. His opening spell was hostile, fast, and relentless, his top speed brushing 95mph and his average sitting at 90.7mph. Shan Masood was the only early victim, which felt almost absurd given how often Awais played and missed.
At the other end, Robinson was the antithesis of Archer’s violence, yet just as destructive. Barely touching 80mph, operating almost entirely with Jamie Smith up to the stumps, he probed and prodded with a surgeon’s precision. Seam, swing, and unerring accuracy. Pakistan’s batters were dissected, not just dismissed.
Smith, immaculate standing up, turned Robinson into something close to unplayable.
Tongue attacked with a fuller length, drawing batters into danger. Two more wickets went his way, continuing a remarkable series in which he has struck once every 13.3 balls. Atkinson, oddly, has only one wicket in three innings, and even that tally should have grown – Awais successfully overturned a caught-behind decision as the players were leaving the field for a brief rain break.
When they returned, England’s seamers went for the throat.
Robinson’s spell after the delay was ruthless. Two lbw decisions, both confirmed on review, removed Saud Shakeel and Muhammad Rizwan. A short ball then finally accounted for Awais, who gloved behind. Those three scalps pushed Robinson to 19 wickets in three summer Tests at an average of 8.84. Outrageous figures, and fully earned.
Archer, hungry for the wickets his spell deserved, cleaned up the tail, bowling Ali Usman and Muhammad Abbas. His record at Lord’s now looks stark: an average of 17 with the ball here, more than 30 everywhere else. This is his stage.
Pakistan were gone for 110. England’s lead ballooned to 180. The game, and likely the series, tilted heavily one way.
England wobble, Gay digs in
With that cushion, England’s second innings should have been a procession. It wasn’t.
Khurram Shahzad struck twice inside 19 balls. Ben Duckett drove loosely and picked out mid-off. Jordan Cox, fresh from two half-centuries in the series, was pinned on the crease and lbw. From 0-0 to 13-2, Lord’s had a flicker of tension.
England did not panic, but they did have to pause.
Emilio Gay, under pressure for his place in a congested top order, chose patience. The left-hander left well, picked his moments through the off side, and settled into something more substantial. Beside him, Joe Root looked to have found his rhythm, nudging, rotating, easing the lead upward.
Then came the now-familiar flaw.
Mohammad Ali nipped one back, thudded into Root’s pad, and the England captain reviewed in hope rather than expectation. He walked off moments later, lbw yet again to seam. It was the ninth time in seven Tests he has fallen that way, compared with only three such dismissals in his previous 39 matches. Whether the keeper stands up or back, the pattern is becoming a problem England can no longer ignore.
The next ball was almost a carbon copy. Harry Brook, England’s vice-captain, survived only because of a faint inside edge. The margin between stability and another mini-collapse could hardly have been slimmer.
As the light faded, batting became a survival exercise. Gay edged Abbas short of the cordon, a reminder that the surface still had something to say for bowlers willing to hit the right areas. He walked off unbeaten on 30, with Brook alongside him and England 81-3, the lead swelling to 261.
For Gay, it is more than just a number. With Jacob Bethell to return from a knee injury and Cox already stacking up runs, England’s top order is crowded. This innings is his chance to make sure he is not the one squeezed out.
A new attack, a fragile opponent, and a looming verdict
This England pace unit has come together out of necessity since Ben Stokes stepped away from bowling. It is still early, the opposition frail, and any grand claims about a new golden era must be handled with care. Yet across three innings in this series, the evidence is hard to ignore.
They hunt in a pack. Archer with fire, Robinson with craft, Tongue with attacking length, Atkinson with heavy, persistent pace. Pakistan have not reached 50 overs in any innings on this tour. They have not passed 171. That is not just about weak batting; it is about relentless pressure.
The only potential obstacle now is the sky. Saturday’s forecast is grim, with the threat of a complete washout. Even if that happens, England still have the bank holiday weekend to finish the job.
They already have enough on the board to win from here. The question is not whether Pakistan can chase it. It is how long this England attack will need to knock them over again.
