Ollie Robinson and Jofra Archer Dominate Pakistan at Lord's
Ollie Robinson ripped through Pakistan with a spell that will sit comfortably in Lord’s folklore, yet by the time bad light dragged everyone off the field, this Test still crackled with danger for England.
On a day that swung violently between dominance and jeopardy, Robinson’s immaculate 4-11 from 13 overs sent Pakistan crashing to 110 all out, only for England’s top order to wobble again before steadying to close on 81-3 — a lead of 261 that feels enormous on this surface, but not quite decisive.
Robinson and Archer rip Pakistan apart
The tone of the day belonged to the ball. It seamed, it nipped, it misbehaved. And Robinson made it talk.
Relentless on a tight line, he dismantled Pakistan’s middle order with the kind of control that turns pressure into panic. Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan both fell lbw, trapped on the crease, as Robinson hit that awkward length over and over. Ali Usman then dragged Archer onto his stumps, and from there the collapse accelerated.
Robinson, though, did not work alone. Jofra Archer, on his Lord’s return as a Test spearhead, set the carnage in motion with 3-26. He struck early, clocking 91 mph, when Shan Masood — promoted to open in place of the injured Imam-ul-Haq — pushed flat-footed at a full ball and nicked to Jamie Smith.
Just as Pakistan tried to exhale, Josh Tongue intervened. With what became the final ball before lunch, Abdullah Shafique edged behind, leaving Pakistan marooned at 16-2 and England’s quicks scenting blood.
Babar Azam briefly threatened to rewrite the script. Back in the side after missing the heavy innings-and-103-run defeat at Headingley with a finger injury, he announced himself with a crisp cover drive for four off Tongue, then another flashing boundary off Gus Atkinson. It looked ominous.
That was all he had. Tongue drew the edge and Jordan Cox flung himself at third slip to complete a superb catch. At 30-3, with Pakistan having posted 171 and 135 in Leeds, the familiar pattern returned.
Azan Awais fought it. Dropped on eight by Harry Brook in the slips, the opener dug in for a gritty 46, the only innings of substance in a lineup otherwise reduced to fragments. Shakeel’s 16 was the only other double-figure score. Awais survived a hostile opening burst from Archer and later called it “probably the fastest spell” he had faced, a remark that underlined the menace Pakistan had to endure.
They did not endure for long. Once Robinson and Archer locked in, wickets tumbled. Rizwan and Shakeel were pinned in front, Ali Usman played on, and the tail folded. Imam, nursing a calf injury from the first day, never made it to the crease. Archer finished things in style, uprooting Mohammad Abbas’s off stump to end an innings that lasted only 37.2 overs.
England’s tail bites, then the top order flinches
The day had started with Pakistan still chasing the final England wicket. They didn’t get it quickly.
England resumed on 248-9, Atkinson 34 not out and Tongue one, and the pair added 47 for the last wicket in a partnership that gnawed at Pakistan’s patience. Tongue glanced Mohammad Ali fine for four, then drove Abbas through the covers. The much-vaunted Pakistan seam attack, short on outright pace, struggled to finish the job.
Babar eventually turned to left-arm spinner Ali Usman. Atkinson, who already owns a Test hundred at Lord’s, drove his third ball of the morning for four, only to hole out to end a valuable 45. Tongue walked off with a Test-best 30 not out, and England’s total of 295 looked bigger with every passing overcast minute.
Pakistan’s reply made it look huge.
Yet the game refused to settle. With a lead of 185, England walked out for their second innings and were immediately dragged into trouble. Khurram Shahzad, sharp and precise, jagged one into Ben Duckett, who chipped a simple catch to mid-off for one. Cox, fresh from his first-innings fifty, then fell lbw on review for 11, Shahzad’s figures suddenly reading a startling 2-5 from two overs.
At 13-2, the ground tightened. It was familiar territory for Joe Root, summoned once more to rebuild from rubble.
Root falls, but England stretch clear
Root and Emilio Gay pushed back. They left well, rode the movement, and slowly prised some control away from Pakistan. The ball still misbehaved, though, and Pakistan’s seamers never let them relax.
On 24, Root’s resistance ended with a ball that summed up the surface. Mohammad Ali jagged one back sharply; Root was plumb in front. It was the ninth time in 12 Test innings he had fallen lbw — a statistic that will not go unnoticed, even for a player of his stature.
The very next delivery, chaos threatened again. Brook, on his way in, was given out lbw first ball. This time, the technology saved him, revealing a thick inside edge. Pakistan’s roar died, England exhaled, and Brook survived to fight on.
From there, the hosts steadied. Gay held firm, Brook began to find rhythm, and the lead ticked past 250. On a pitch offering this much seam, 261 runs ahead at 81-3 felt imposing. Not definitive, but imposing.
Archer, speaking after play, put it bluntly: this surface always has something lurking. “There was a ball with your name on it today,” he said, a line that neatly captured the sense of permanent jeopardy.
England will wake up knowing they are ahead, significantly so, with a chance to seal the series 2-0 and remove all doubt before the final Test. Pakistan, battered but not yet beaten, still have the new ball, cloud cover, and a pitch that refuses to behave.
On a Lord’s wicket where every mistake is punished and every spell can flip the story, how many more runs will England dare say is enough?
