Josh Tongue's Late Strikes Propel England Against Pakistan at Lord’s
LONDON, Aug 28 – On a grey, twitchy morning at Lord’s, England squeezed every last drop out of their first innings, then drove a wedge straight into Pakistan’s top order.
By lunch on day two, Pakistan were tottering at 16-2 in reply to England’s 290 all out, the mood in the visiting dressing room darkened by the final ball before the interval. Josh Tongue, who had already hurt them with the bat, came back for a second spell and nicked off Abdullah Shafique, a review confirming the faint edge from an ambitious drive. The clock hit lunch as the finger went up. Pakistan trudged off, two down and badly bruised.
That moment had been coming. England began the day on 248-9, and Pakistan would have fancied wrapping things up in a handful of deliveries. Instead, Tongue and Gus Atkinson dug in, then counter-punched.
The last-wicket pair added 47 priceless runs, turning an adequate total into a testing one. Tongue finished 30 not out, compact and stubborn, picking off anything loose. Atkinson, more expansive, cracked 45 from 46 balls, refusing to let Pakistan’s attack settle. He finally fell attempting one big shot too many, launching Ali Usman straight down the ground to Mohammad Ali, stationed precisely for the mishit.
Those extra 42 runs from the overnight score felt heavy. They changed the mood. England walked off with a spring; Pakistan, shoulders a touch lower, knew they had let a chance slide.
The reply began under a restless Lord’s sky and under the glare of Jofra Archer. From his first over, Archer looked spiteful. The radar read 91mph, the seam stood up, and Pakistan’s openers felt the heat.
Shan Masood was the first to crack. Archer angled one across him, sharp and climbing, and Masood’s tentative push only feathered the ball through to Jamie Smith. Archer wheeled away, England roared, and Pakistan’s innings had its first dent.
The pressure did not ease. England’s quicks hunted together, lengths tight, lines unforgiving. Atkinson thought he had his reward when Azan Awais was given caught behind, but Pakistan clung to the DRS lifeline and the decision was overturned, a rare moment of relief in a torrid hour.
Relief didn’t last. Just as Pakistan looked like they might sneak through to lunch with only one casualty, Tongue returned. His second spell was nagging, heavy, awkward. Shafique, keen to break the shackles, reached for a drive that wasn’t quite there. The edge was thin, the appeal instant. The initial not-out verdict didn’t survive the replay. England’s fielders converged, Pakistan’s batters split apart.
Two wickets down, only 16 runs on the board, and a long afternoon looming at Lord’s. England’s 290 suddenly looks a lot larger than it did when the day began.
