Razaullah Shines in Edgbaston as Pakistan Challenge England

Edgbaston finally found its voice. On a tour that has lurched from meek collapses to quiet exits, Pakistan’s players walked off on Friday evening to a roar. At the heart of it all was a 21-year-old debutant, swinging as if this was a street game, not a Test match.

England will begin Saturday needing 130 to win the third Rothesay Test. They remain strong favourites. Yet the mood around this series has changed, and it changed because Razaullah refused to accept the script.

A debutant turns a dead rubber into a contest

When he walked out, Pakistan were 318-8, still two runs behind, time left in the day, and a familiar story apparently unfolding. England’s bowlers had controlled most of the series. Another early finish seemed entirely plausible.

Then Razaullah started swinging.

He carved 81 from 63 balls, a blur of clean striking and audacity. Nine times the ball sailed into the stands, equalling Ben Stokes’ record for the most sixes in a Test innings in England. For a debutant, it matched Tim Southee’s world mark. It was not slogging. It was calculated, fearless hitting that rattled an attack which has barely been tested all month.

With Muhammad Abbas for company, he added 121 for the eighth wicket. Abbas, hardly known as a destroyer, joined the fun with 42 that included two sixes, reverse-sweeps off Dan Lawrence and a pair of blows over cow corner off Ollie Robinson. England, who had spent their first full day in the field this series, visibly faded.

By the time Pakistan were bowled out for 449, the game felt different. England’s first-innings 453, built on contributions from Harry Brook (75), Jamie Smith (69), Lawrence (65), Emilio Gay (60) and Robinson (50), no longer looked like a knockout punch. It looked like the foundation for a chase that might just get awkward.

Pakistan finally show their steel

This has been a shambolic tour for Pakistan. Bowled out for 133 on day one here. Reduced to 0-2 in their second innings. Two matches of brittle batting and short stays at the crease. On Friday, something finally clicked.

From 55-2 overnight, still 268 behind, they did not fold. Shan Masood and Azan Awais dug in, stretching their third-wicket stand to 125. Awais, only 21, played fluently through the off side for his 59 before glancing Lawrence down the leg side.

Masood, calm and composed in what is likely his final Test in the country where he went to school, moved towards a farewell century. On 95, he was cut off by a moment of brilliance: Lawrence, at gully, flinging himself to his left to pluck a one-handed catch off Gus Atkinson. It was a cruel end, but a high-class innings.

Babar Azam then took centre stage. His 76 was laced with the familiar elegance, yet England finally unsettled him with a barrage of short balls either side of tea. The plan worked. A Josh Tongue bouncer brought the Pakistan captain’s dismissal and, at that point, a three-day finish looked nailed on.

Instead, a proper Test match broke out.

The Hollies Stand, subdued for much of the first two days, crackled into life. The battle between bat and ball evened out. Pakistan, for the first time this series, went beyond 200 and beyond 51 overs. Pride, at least, was being restored.

England lose the plot as Razaullah goes berserk

Up to the point where Razaullah and Abbas came together, England had done little wrong. When the ball moved, they held their length. They used the short ball at the right time. Catches stuck. Pakistan were made to work.

Then the chaos began.

Atkinson was launched into the Edgbaston building site, three sixes in a single over as Razaullah opened his shoulders. Jofra Archer, usually the hunter, became the hunted, driven back over his head for consecutive maximums. Fielders scattered to the boundary as Joe Root’s side scrambled for answers.

Root’s decision to hand the second new ball to Lawrence, rather than the in-form Robinson, baffled many. Robinson, outstanding all series, watched on. Archer’s frustration at the punishment he took was obvious. Root even left the field briefly as his bowlers were pummelled.

By the end, England had eight men on the rope while Atkinson banged in bouncers at Razaullah. The plan did not look like a plan. It looked like survival.

Abbas eventually nicked Tongue to point as the light dimmed, ending the stand that had turned the day on its head. The crowd stayed with Razaullah, though, riding every swing.

In a breathless finish, he clubbed Lawrence for his record-equalling ninth six, overturned an lbw decision to a huge roar, then finally overbalanced and was stumped. He walked off to a rapturous ovation, a new star announced on a tour that had seemed destined to be forgotten.

Questions for England, hope for Pakistan

England’s attack has dominated this series so completely that Root’s captaincy has barely been probed. On Friday, it was. The scattered fields, the reliance on the bouncer, the curious use of Lawrence with the new ball – all of it will be picked over if this match tightens.

For most of the day, England’s efforts were solid. They were simply repelled by Pakistan batting that, at last, combined patience, bravery and sound judgement. When Razaullah and Abbas seized the moment, England’s discipline vanished.

The late wickets brought obvious relief. Pakistan’s resistance still leaves England needing only 130 for a 3-0 clean sweep, on a surface where they have already piled up 453. They should get there.

But “should” suddenly feels less certain than it did on Thursday night. Pakistan, humiliated for much of this tour, have finally landed a punch. Now the question is simple: can they land one more and turn Razaullah’s whirlwind into the spark for something far bigger?