England Tighten Grip on Pakistan as Robinson Shines at Edgbaston
The rain came early in Birmingham, but not before England had tightened the vise on a Pakistan side staring at a series sweep and a long, bleak couple of days ahead.
By the time the weather closed in on day two of the third Test at Edgbaston, Pakistan were 52-2, still 268 runs adrift of England’s imposing 452 and already nursing fresh scars from Ollie Robinson’s opening burst.
Robinson strikes, Pakistan reel
The first over of Pakistan’s reply was brutal. Not dramatic, not chaotic. Just cold, clinical destruction.
Saim Ayub, one of four players parachuted into the XI after seven were dropped from the touring squad, lasted a single ball. Robinson kissed the edge, the slips did the rest. A pair for the opener. A brutal introduction to Test cricket in England.
Three deliveries later, the mood somehow darkened further. Abdullah Shafique pushed, nicked, gone. Joe Root at slip made no mistake, moving himself onto 220 Test catches as an outfielder and nudging one clear of Steve Smith in their quietly fierce fielding rivalry.
From 0-2, Pakistan were not just behind the game. They were dangling off the edge of it.
Robinson’s figures told their own story: 2-10 in that spell, and 28 wickets for the summer across four Tests at a scarcely believable average of 7.75. In this series alone, he has trimmed that down to 6.66. These are not just good numbers. They are era-defining numbers.
A flicker of resistance
The collapse many inside Edgbaston expected never fully materialised. Not this time.
Azan Awais and Shan Masood steadied themselves, and then the scoreboard. They absorbed, then pushed back, stitching together an unbroken fifty stand that at least gave the visitors something resembling a foothold.
Awais, compact and stubborn, moved to 29 not out. Masood, more expansive, reached 21 not out and should have been gone on 13. Ben Duckett shelled a straightforward chance in the cordon off Gus Atkinson, his third drop of the Test, leaving the seamer to trudge back to his mark with the look of a man wondering what more he needed to do.
That miss might yet linger if Masood turns this into something substantial. For now, it is a footnote in a day that still belonged overwhelmingly to England.
Then came the rain. Heavy, grey, relentless. The players walked off with Pakistan still 268 behind, the crowd left to mull over how quickly this match could yet accelerate once the skies clear.
England’s runs, England’s depth
All of this came after England’s batters had driven the game to near breaking point.
They began the day already in command and ended their innings on 452, a 320-run lead that underlined both their dominance and their depth.
Dan Lawrence carved out 65, busy and assertive in the middle order. Jamie Smith added 69, a knock that blended control with intent, suggesting again that England’s next generation are not just waiting in the wings – they are already on stage.
Robinson, with the ball on a string all summer, showed he can swing the bat too. His 50 was no tail-end slog. It was a composed, valuable contribution that followed on from the platform laid the previous evening by Emilio Gay’s 60 and Harry Brook’s brisk 75.
England did not rely on one towering innings. They stacked contributions, one on top of another, until Pakistan were buried under the weight of it.
The road ahead
So the equation is stark. Pakistan trail by 268 with eight wickets in hand and three days left, weather permitting. England are closing in on not just a series win, but the most emphatic of sweeps, one that would reflect the gulf between these sides over the past few weeks.
Pakistan have Awais and Masood still there, a partnership intact and a dressing room full of players who know they have underperformed on this tour and have one last chance to show some fight.
England, led by a rampant Robinson and backed by a deep, confident batting unit, can smell the finish line.
Day three will tell us one thing: whether Pakistan can turn a flicker of resistance into a full-blown rearguard, or whether this series ends as it has often felt destined to – under English skies, with English seamers, and with England utterly in control.
