England secure clean sweep against Pakistan in thrilling finale
For a few fraught minutes at Edgbaston, the script threatened to rip itself up.
England, chasing only 130 to beat Pakistan and complete a 3-0 series sweep, somehow slumped to 2-2 in the first over. Ben Duckett gone first ball. Emilio Gay trapped plumb. The modest Saturday crowd, expecting a gentle procession, suddenly felt the knot in the stomach that only Test cricket can deliver.
By lunch, Joe Root and Jordan Cox had turned that knot into a quiet, satisfied exhale. England won by eight wickets, series whitewash secured, summer salvaged.
But it was anything but serene getting there.
From cruise control to crisis
The jeopardy should never have existed. Pakistan, rolled for 133 on the first day, had been outplayed for two and a half Tests. England’s 453 in reply, built on a spread of contributions – Harry Brook 75, Ollie Smith 69, Dan Lawrence 65, Gay 60 and Ollie Robinson’s 50 – looked to have buried the contest and the series.
Then came Razaullah.
On Friday evening, the debutant launched a stunning counter-attack that shook England out of their comfort. Walking in with Pakistan 0-2 in their second innings and the series drifting to a meek conclusion, he tore into the bowling with fearless, almost reckless, abandon.
His 81 turned a procession into a contest. Backed by Shan Masood’s 95, Babar Azam’s 76 and Azan Awais’ 59, Pakistan surged to 449. A team that had looked ready to go home suddenly dragged England into a tricky fourth-innings chase on a wearing pitch.
England, so dominant for so long, had invited pressure. On Saturday morning, it arrived with a snarl.
Abbas lights the fuse
Muhammad Abbas needed only one ball to ignite Edgbaston.
His first delivery to Duckett was a classic of its kind: full, kissing the surface, drawing the edge. Gone for a golden duck. The one centurion in England’s summer, but a man now averaging 23 since the start of the Ashes and without a score above 20 in five innings against Pakistan, trudged off with his position under fresh scrutiny.
Four balls later, Gay was pinned on the shin, front pad nailed by Abbas’ metronomic accuracy. The review was hopeful, the decision inevitable. Gay, who has three fifties in his debut summer but now an average below 25, swished his bat in frustration and stalked away, his immediate future suddenly uncertain with Jacob Bethell nearing fitness.
2-2. A target of 130 had never looked so awkward. In the dressing room, the tension matched the murmur in the stands. The possibility of one of Test cricket’s great heists flickered into view.
Root’s reprieve, Cox’s calm
Root walked in as captain of a side under genuine pressure and very nearly walked straight back.
On 23, he dragged a ball from Mohammad Ali onto his stumps, only to be saved by the smallest of margins – Ali had overstepped. The no-ball call changed the mood, if not immediately the nerves. Root knew he had been reckless. Pakistan knew they had wasted a golden opening.
The England captain did not look entirely secure. On 34, he edged Abbas between two static slips, the kind of moment that drains belief from a fielding side. Pakistan’s shoulders sagged. Their last surge of hope began to ebb.
At the other end, Cox looked like the senior pro.
The Essex batter, under the microscope as selectors weigh up options for the first Test in South Africa in December, played with a composure that belied the situation. He left well, defended late, and picked off anything loose with quiet authority. While Root rode his luck, Cox imposed order.
Their partnership of 128 was unbroken and unflustered once the early storm passed. Cox’s 59 was not flashy, but it was precisely what England needed: a calm hand on a rattling tiller, a serious marker laid down for the winter tours.
Root, unbeaten on 62, tapped the winning runs shortly before lunch. He removed his helmet to a warm ovation, the captaincy he resumed after Ben Stokes’ June retirement now burnished by a 3-0 sweep.
A turbulent summer, a new era
That England find themselves here – three straight wins after a run of just two victories in 10 Tests – is remarkable given the chaos of their recent past.
Less than two months ago they had no permanent captain and no head coach. Now Root is back in charge, Stephen Fleming is due to arrive as the new coach in the coming days, and a side that had looked frayed and directionless has at least rediscovered the habit of winning.
The manner of this victory, though, will give Fleming plenty to chew on.
England’s fielding plans crumbled under Razaullah’s onslaught on Friday. Their top order wobbled again when the heat came on. Another hundred runs in that chase and the conversation today might have been very different.
The opening pair is the obvious headache. Duckett’s lone hundred this summer cannot mask his lean stretch. Gay has shown promise but remains raw, his technique and temperament still being tested at this level. With Bethell returning from injury and Cox making an irresistible case in the middle order, decisions are coming.
The schedule offers no time to dwell. England flip to white-ball mode on Tuesday, starting a series against Sri Lanka in Southampton with Brendon McCullum back at the helm and Kevin Pietersen joining the coaching staff. Then come winter tours to South Africa, Bangladesh and Australia – a far sterner examination of Root’s rebuilt side.
Pakistan’s chaos, Pakistan’s glimmer
For Pakistan, the story of the tour is one of missteps and missed chances.
From the moment Robinson trapped Azan Awais lbw with the first ball of the series at Headingley, they have been chasing shadows. They flirted with abandoning the second Test after a Sky interview with Imran Khan’s sons. They sacked head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed after defeat at Lord’s, parachuted in Mike Hesson, and dropped seven players from the squad. The fallout will follow them home.
At Edgbaston, a two-day humiliation loomed when they slid to 0-2 in their second innings. That they instead forced England to sweat on the fourth morning is a tribute to a belated show of resolve from the top order and to Razaullah’s extraordinary debut.
He had already made an impression with the ball, dismissing Root in his first over in Test cricket. On Friday, he lit up the ground with a fearless, audacious assault that dismantled England’s attack and briefly turned the match on its head.
Pakistan leave with a 3-0 defeat, their tour in tatters, but perhaps with one precious discovery. In Razaullah, they may have found a star in the making.
England, meanwhile, walk away with the series, the silverware, and a sense of direction restored – but also with a clear warning. When the real pressure comes this winter, will they still be able to ride out the storm?
