Root and Cox Guide England to 8-Wicket Victory in Series Win
For a few fraught minutes at Edgbaston, England flirted with calamity. Chasing just 130 to wrap up a 3-0 series win over Pakistan, they somehow contrived to be 2 for 2 in the opening over. The crowd, expectant and relaxed at the start, suddenly went quiet.
Then Joe Root walked in, Jordan Cox joined him, and the panic simply drained away.
Together they stitched an unbroken century stand, both raising measured half-centuries, to steer England to an eight-wicket victory before lunch and close out a series that had one last twist left in it – but no sting.
Pakistan’s dream start
The final morning could hardly have begun better for Pakistan. Ben Duckett lasted one ball. Mohammad Abbas found just enough movement, Duckett fenced, and the edge flew through to the keeper. First ball, first wicket, and a murmur of unease rippled around the ground.
Four balls later, it was a roar. Emilio Gay, pinned on the crease, was struck in front and given leg-before. Two wickets in the opening over, England two down without a run, and a chase that had looked routine suddenly felt precarious.
At 2 for 2, Pakistan were alive. The comeback that debutant Razaullah had sparked with the bat on the third evening now had a pulse with the ball as well. England’s top order had been ripped open, the new ball was talking, and the fielders swarmed around the bat.
A no-ball that changed everything
Razaullah, though, could not transfer his batting heroics into early control with the ball. His first offerings bled runs, and Pakistan were forced into an early change. On came Mohammad Ali, and for a fleeting, electrifying moment, it looked like a masterstroke.
Ali went straight at Root and knocked back his stumps. England’s premier batter, gone cheaply, Pakistan delirious. Except he wasn’t. The umpire checked the front foot. Ali had overstepped.
The dismissal was chalked off, the noise turned to disbelief, and Root walked back to his mark with a second life. He cashed it in immediately, drilling the very next ball to the boundary. Cox followed suit in the next over, stroking his own four and settling the nerves in the dressing room.
From there, the chase shifted tone. England were still only a handful of runs into their pursuit, but the sense of jeopardy had ebbed. Root was moving smoothly, Cox loosening his shoulders, Pakistan’s bowlers suddenly searching for the early menace that had evaporated.
Chances spurned, pressure lost
Pakistan still had one more opening. Abbas, so precise with the new ball, found the outside edge of Root’s bat. It flew at a comfortable height between first and second slip. Both watched. Neither moved.
The ball burst through untouched and rolled away, and with it went Pakistan’s last realistic shot at turning the morning into something historic. A side that had roared themselves back into contention at 2 for 2 now watched their final opportunity die in silence.
Once Root and Cox had ridden out that brief storm, the rest felt inevitable. The target was too small, the pitch too benign, and the scoreboard pressure almost non-existent. Root began to unfurl his full range, milking singles, punishing anything loose, nudging England ever closer.
He reached fifty with another crisp boundary, and with it moved clear for the most half-centuries in Test cricket’s history. It was a record broken in quintessential Root fashion – no fanfare, just a firm push to the rope and a brief raise of the bat.
At the other end, Cox made the most of his chance. Where Root was all quiet authority, Cox brought a fresher energy, growing in confidence with every stroke. He, too, raised a half-century, a landmark that underlined his composure on a morning when England badly needed it.
By the stroke of lunch, the job was done. The early chaos, the no-ball drama, the spilled slip chance – all of it folded into a simple line on the scorecard: England win by eight wickets, and the series 3-0.
Pakistan will replay that overstep and that dropped chance in their minds for some time. England, by contrast, walk away with another series in the bank and a familiar question hanging over the rest of the world: when the pressure spikes and the chase wobbles, who can really keep Joe Root and company down for long?
