Pakistan's Thrilling Fightback at Edgbaston
Pakistan finally arrived on this tour on Friday. Not with a scrappy rearguard, not with a day of survival, but with a full-blooded, audacious response that turned a grim position into a 130-run target for England and the most compelling day of the series.
From overnight consolidation to late-evening carnage, this was Pakistan at their most watchable: stubborn at the top, stylish in the middle, and utterly fearless at the end.
Steady hands at the top
Azan Awais and Shan Masood walked out in the morning with work to do and very little margin for error. They had already put together a half-century stand, but Jofra Archer immediately made it clear that the comfort of the previous evening was over. Short balls, heavy length, constant questions.
Archer and Gus Atkinson kept the lid on scoring. Josh Tongue did not. Whenever he missed his length, Pakistan pounced. There was movement on offer, but not enough to genuinely unsettle two batters who had clearly decided they were in for the long haul.
The reward came either side of the first drinks break. Awais reached his fifty. Masood followed. Pakistan, for the first time in the series, looked settled rather than merely surviving.
The partnership, though, ended the moment England turned to spin.
Lawrence breaks through, Root nails the call
Dan Lawrence’s introduction brought an immediate twist. Awais, looking to glance one drifting down the leg side, feathered the ball through to the wicketkeeper. The appeal was half-hearted, the umpire unmoved, the close catchers largely indifferent.
Joe Root was not. A swift review, a faint spike, and Awais was gone. A promising innings cut short by sharp captaincy and technology.
Pakistan could have drifted there. Instead, Masood found the perfect ally.
Babar finally finds his touch
Babar Azam’s series had been a quiet disappointment until this innings. No double-digit scores, no commanding presence. That changed as he joined Masood.
The pair put on 89 with the kind of control and authority Pakistan have been crying out for. Masood drove and clipped with precision, Babar’s timing returned, and England’s seamers briefly looked short of ideas.
Masood, though, fell agonisingly short of a century. Lawrence again, this time at gully, flinging himself low to his left to pull off a sharp one-handed catch. Masood walked off on 95, his near-perfect innings halted just when it seemed destined for three figures.
Babar remained, still fluent, still in control. For a while, it looked like he would go one better.
Then came England’s familiar weapon: the short ball.
Short-ball plan turns the tide
Once England committed to the bumper tactic, the tone of the day changed. Babar handled Archer’s hostile spell, riding the pace and refusing to hook loosely. The battle crackled.
Tongue, though, found a way. A ball down the leg side, Babar looking to glance, and the chance taken. Another Pakistan batter, well set and eyeing a century, cut off before reaching it.
Seven overs later, Saud Shakeel followed the same path. Again the short ball. Again the glove. This time to short leg as he tried to fend it away. England’s plan was clear, and suddenly Pakistan’s position, so promising at one stage, began to fray.
By the time the final session began, Pakistan were still 23 runs behind with five wickets in hand. England sensed they could blast through and secure a decisive lead.
They struck quickly. Shakeel, Ghazi Ghori, Mohammad Imran Randhawa – all gone before Pakistan could even move into the black. Two wickets left, the deficit still lingering. The script seemed written.
Razaullah tore it up.
Razaullah’s extraordinary debut assault
At 21, on debut, with the innings teetering, Razaullah chose aggression over anxiety. What followed was one of the most thrilling lower-order assaults Edgbaston has seen.
He finished with 81 off 63 balls, including nine sixes – the most ever hit by a debutant. The numbers are striking. The manner was unforgettable.
The intent was clear early. He launched into Atkinson, sending him over the ropes three times in a single over. The mood of the day shifted. England’s fields scattered. The crowd woke up.
There was a brief lull, a moment where he seemed to reset. Then he stepped out to Archer and hammered him over long-off for six to reach his half-century. It was not a slog; it was clean, calculated hitting, backed by a calm partner at the other end.
Mohammad Abbaas played the perfect foil. He rotated the strike, picked off his own runs, and allowed Razaullah the freedom to keep swinging. As the stand grew, so did Pakistan’s belief.
The ninth-wicket pair added 121 priceless runs. From a position of near-collapse, Pakistan surged into a 119-run lead before Abbaas finally fell for 42, edging Tongue after a composed and vital hand.
Razaullah, still hungry, added 10 more runs to the total. The field spread, England’s bowlers hunted for a mistake, and eventually Lawrence claimed him too, stumping him to finish with his second wicket of the innings and Pakistan’s last.
By then, the damage was done. Pakistan had rattled up 449 – their highest total of the series – and turned a deficit into a 130-run target for England.
The hosts now walk into the fourth day chasing a modest score on paper, but under the weight of a Pakistan side that has finally found its voice.
