- England trail by 59 runs with eight wickets in hand.
- Pakistan bowled out after scoring 171 runs.
- Robinson, Tongue take five-fors for England.
Captain Joe Root and Jordan Cox steadied England with a crucial partnership after the openers fell, guiding the hosts to a commanding position at the close of play on Day 1 of the first Test against Pakistan at Headingley on Wednesday.
At the stumps on the opening day, the hosts were well-placed at 112/2 with Jordan Cox and captain Root unbeaten on 37 and 23, respectively, as England trail Pakistan by 59 runs with eight wickets in hand.
The home side made a spirited start to their innings as their opening pair of Ben Duckett (15) and Emilio Gay put together 36 runs until Pakistan’s pace spearhead Mohammad Abbas trapped the former lbw in the 10th over.
Gay followed suit in the next over, falling victim to Mohammad Ali, and walked back after scoring a 31-ball 33, laced with seven boundaries.
Following the back-to-back dismissals, Root joined Cox in the middle, and the duo batted sensibly to put together an unbeaten 64-run partnership to round up a dominant day for England.
The duo will resume England’s response on the second day as the Three Lions aim to secure a handy lead over Pakistan in the Test series opener.
For Pakistan, Abbas and Ali have thus far been able to take one wicket apiece in the first innings.
The Green Shirts, resuming their first innings from 150/7 after the tea break, could add 21 more to their total for the remaining three wickets and were thus bowled out for a meagre total in 48.1 overs.
Tongue gave the home side an ideal start to the final session as he trapped Pakistan’s last recognised batter Mohammad Rizwan (12) in the second over after the break to expose their batting tail.
Following his departure, tailenders Khurram Shahzad (14) and Mohammad Abbas added 12 runs for the 10th wicket until Robinson struck, dismissing the former to register his fifth five-wicket haul in the format.
He was joined by Tongue on the next delivery of the next over as the 28-year-old cleaned up Abbas (two) to register his fourth five-wicket haul in Tests.
At the tea break, the visitors were reeling at 150/7, with wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan unbeaten on 11.
The pulsating second session of the opening day got underway with Pakistan resuming their first innings from 23/2 through experienced opener Imam-ul-Haq and in-form Abdullah Shafique, who batted sensibly to raise an important 91-run partnership for the third wicket.
Right-arm pacer Josh Tongue broke the threatening stand in the 29th over of Pakistan’s innings by dismissing Imam, who fell narrowly short of a well-deserved half-century as he walked back after scoring 42 off 74 deliveries with the help of six fours.
Set-batter Shafique was then involved in a brief 20-run partnership for the third wicket with Saud Shakeel before Ollie Robinson dismissed both batters in his successive overs.
Shakeel could muster five off 25 deliveries, while Shafique remained the top-scorer for Pakistan with a valiant half-century, scoring 61 off 104 deliveries, laced with eight fours.
Following the back-to-back dismissals, the experienced duo of Rizwan and stand-in captain Salman Ali Agha (21) shared a 32-run partnership for the sixth wicket until the latter was cleaned up by Josh Tongue in the final over of the session.
Tongue struck again on the next delivery, trapping Ali Usman (zero) lbw and reducing Pakistan further to 150/7.
Robinson has been the standout bowler for England in the first innings, having taken four wickets for 39 runs in his 16 overs, while Tongue has made three scalps for 41 runs in 7.4 overs.
Asked to bat first, Pakistan suffered an early setback when opener Azan Awais was dismissed by Ollie Robinson off the very first ball of the match after being given out leg before wicket (LBW).
The visitors suffered another blow in the fifth over when former captain Shan Masood was dismissed by Robinson for five off 20 deliveries, leaving Pakistan struggling at 6-2.
Imam and Shafique then showed some resilience, putting together a brief partnership to take Pakistan’s total to 23/2 before heavy rain brought play to a halt.