England thrash Pakistan at Headingley

LEEDS, England (AP):

England wrapped up an innings victory over Pakistan inside three days in the first Test on Friday, making a strong start to the post-Bazball era under returning captain Joe Root.

Dismissed for 409 about 40 minutes into the third day, England carried a 238-run lead into Pakistan’s second innings and then skittled out the tourists for 135 in 37.3 overs before tea.

England secured a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with an innings-and-103-run victory. The second Test starts on Thursday at Lord’s.

“Brilliant performance,” Root said. “You look at the prep we had leading in, coming straight from the Hundred, the fact we’re in a slight transition stage. I thought the way that we dealt with all of that, the clarity and the way the guys approached this week has been outstanding.”

England’s quartet of seamers consistently hit the fuller lengths required at Headingley and Pakistan were unable to cope.

Jofra Archer removed both openers with the new ball, Ollie Robinson claimed three more wickets, Josh Tongue came on after lunch and grabbed three wickets while averaging 143 kph (89 mph), and Gus Atkinson bowled superbly before earning the late reward of dismissing Pakistan’s top scorer, Mohammad Rizwan.

Robinson and Tongue each took eight wickets in the match. Both claimed five wickets in the first innings and effectively shared the match ball. Robinson was named player of the match for figures of 8-80, compared to Tongue’s 8-89.

It was Robinson’s first Test since June, when he took 7-77 against New Zealand. He said he had been working on his fitness, while he and his partner welcomed their first child last week.

“I’m going to try and get as much sleep as I can before the next Test,” he said.

England are entering a new era following the retirement of captain Ben Stokes and the dismissal of Brendon McCullum as Test coach after the 2-1 series loss to New Zealand in June.

‘England outplayed us’

Pakistan arrived with a measure of confidence after drawing their series in the West Indies this month and playing a warm-up match last week. However, they looked rusty throughout, and their bowling and fielding fell below the required standard. After ending England’s first innings on Friday morning, the question was whether the visitors could extend the match into a fourth day.

England, resuming on 366-8 overnight, added 43 more runs for their first total above 400 in 10 Tests. Archer struck the only six of the match. Khurram Shahzad took both remaining wickets and showed the pitch was still offering assistance to the bowlers.

Pakistan slipped to 0-1 for the second time in the match.

Imam-ul-Haq fended at an Archer bouncer and the ball brushed his glove. Azan Awais, who fell to the first ball of the series, then edged to Root at leg slip as Archer removed both openers.

The pressure shifted to veterans Shan Masood and Abdullah Shafique, but Robinson broke their partnership in the 14th over. He breached Shafique’s determined defence, inducing an edge to second slip.

Pakistan reached lunch on 59-3, with Masood well set at the ground where he spent two seasons playing for Yorkshire.

However, Tongue struck immediately after the interval and Root’s field placement paid off. Dan Lawrence had just been moved to backward square when Saud Shakeel whipped a delivery from Tongue straight to him.

Masood then pushed at a Tongue delivery and edged to England’s new first slip, Ben Duckett. Tongue had two wickets in two balls, just as he did in the first innings, but was unable to complete the hat-trick.

Tongue’s burst left him with figures of 3-7 from an 11-ball spell after he trapped stand-in captain Salman Agha for eight, hastening Pakistan’s slide at 76-6.

Rizwan, Pakistan’s last recognised batter at number seven, top-scored with 41 but, for a player appearing in his 46th Test, surprisingly failed to guide the tail.

He was the ninth wicket to fall. Five minutes later, the match was over.

“England have outplayed us; they’ve been outstanding in every department,” Agha told the BBC. “We need to flush this game out and turn it around at Lord’s.”