Robinson-inspired England send Pakistan packing for 110

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LONDON: England pace bowler Ollie Robinson and team-mates appeal for an lbw decision against Pakistan batter Saud Shakeel during the second Test at Lord’s on Friday.—AFP
LONDON: England pace bowler Ollie Robinson and team-mates appeal for an lbw decision against Pakistan batter Saud Shakeel during the second Test at Lord’s on Friday.—AFP

LONDON: Ollie Robinson took a sensational four wickets for just 11 runs as Pakistan collapsed to 110 all out in the second Test against England at Lord’s on Friday.

Pakistan’s slump either side of lunch on the second day left them 180 runs behind England’s first-innings 290.

Robinson finished with the remarkable figures of 4-11 in 13 overs.

Fast bowler Jofra Archer, who did the initial damage, took 3-26, with fellow paceman Josh Tongue finishing with 2-27 after the No 11 made a Test-best 30 not out earlier Friday.

Only opener Azan Awais offered much resistance for Pakistan with 46 — and he was dropped on eight in the slips by Harry Brook.

The only other Pakistan batsman to make double figures Friday was Saud Shakeel with 16.

An innings lasting a mere 37.2 overs ended with Pakistan nine wickets down after opener Imam-ul-Haq was unable to bat following a calf injury suffered while fielding on Thursday.

Gus Atkinson (45) and Tongue had previously frustrated Pakistan with a 10th-wicket partnership of 47.

Archer made the breakthrough when a flat-footed Shan Masood, opening in place of Imam, edged a 91 mph (146 km/h) delivery to wicket-keeper Jamie Smith for one.

Tongue then struck with what became the last ball before lunch when Abdullah Shafique was caught behind to leave Pakistan 16-2. Pakistan captain Babar Azam got off the mark in style with a fourth-ball boundary as he belted an 88mph but over-pitched Tongue delivery through the covers.

Babar, who missed a crushing innings and 103-run defeat in the first of a three-Test series at Headingley last week with a finger injury, had a second boundary on Friday with a flashing drive off Atkinson.

But it was good as it got for Babar before he nicked an off-stump delivery from Tongue to a diving Jordan Cox at third slip.

Pakistan were now 30-3, with England having slumped to 36-3 on Thursday.

But the question now was whether a Pakistan side dismissed for just 171 and 135 at Headingley could mount a similar recovery.

The answer was not long in coming, with both Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan lbw to Robinson as Pakistan slumped to 91-5 before Ali Usman played on to the returning Archer.

LONDON: England batter Emilio Gay looks on as Abdullah Shafique and Salman Ali Agha fail to catch the ball, on day two of the second Test at Lord’s. Pakistan took the field on Friday after the England attack reduced them to a dismal 110 all out in their first innings.—AFP
LONDON: England batter Emilio Gay looks on as Abdullah Shafique and Salman Ali Agha fail to catch the ball, on day two of the second Test at Lord’s. Pakistan took the field on Friday after the England attack reduced them to a dismal 110 all out in their first innings.—AFP

Pakistan then lost a flurry of wickets, Archer ending the innings in emphatic fashion when he knocked over Mohammad Abbas’s off-stump.

Earlier Atkinson, who has a Test century at Lord’s to his credit, was England’s last man out for a near run-a-ball 45.

England had been in dire straits on Thursday, with veteran seamer Abbas taking three wickets for four runs in 16 balls after Pakistan won the toss.

But fifties from Smith (61) and Cox (55) helped England recover to 248-9 when bad light ended play for the day. Abbas had fine figures of 4-56 in 15 overs and fellow seamer Mohammad Ali 3-67 in 17 when the umpires ruled it was unsafe to continue despite the floodlights illuminating the ground.

The match resumed on Friday beneath sunny skies with Atkinson 34 not out and Tongue unbeaten on one.

Tongue expertly glanced Mohammad Ali for four down to fine leg and drilled Abbas through the covers for another boundary, with England’s last-wicket duo largely untroubled by a Pakistan seam attack lacking in sheer speed.

Babar belatedly turned to left-arm spinner Ali Usman in the hope of ending the stand.

Atkinson drove Usman’s third ball Friday for four but holed out off the next to end a 46-ball innings featuring six fours.

Tongue’s innings surpassed his previous highest Test score of 19 against Australia three years ago.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND (1st Innings, overnight 248-9): B. Duckett lbw b Abbas17 E. Gay c Rizwan b Abbas8 J. Cox c (sub) b Khurram55 J. Root lbw b Abbas4 H. Brook b Ali15 D. Lawrence run out17 J. Smith b Ali61 G. Atkinson c Ali b Usman45 O. Robinson b Ali0 J. Archer b Abbas14 J. Tongue not out30 EXTRAS (B-2, LB-11, NB-11)24 TOTAL (66.4 overs)290 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-21 (Gay), 2-26 (Duckett), 3-36 (Root), 4-77 (Brook), 5-120 (Lawrence), 6-187 (Cox), 7-222 (Smith), 8-222 (Robinson), 9-243 (Archer) BOWLING: Abbas 20-3-73-4, Khurram 15-0-79-1 (5w), Ali 22-2-86-3 (6w), Usman 9.4-1-39-1 PAKISTAN (1st Innings): Shan Masood c Smith b Archer1 Azan Awais c Gay b Robinson46 Abdullah Shafique c Smith b Tongue5 Babar Azam c Cox b Tongue8 Saud Shakeel lbw b Robinson16 Mohammad Rizwan lbw b Robinson7 Ali Usman b Archer1 Khurram Shahzad c Brook b Robinson1 Mohammad Abbas b Archer2 Mohammad Ali not out3 Imam-ul-Haq absent hurt EXTRAS (B-12, LB-1, NB-2, W-5)20 TOTAL (all out, 37.2 overs)110 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-5 (Shan), 2-16 (Abdullah), 3-30 (Babar), 4-63 (Saud), 5-91 (Rizwan), 6-104 (Usman), 7-105 (Khurram), 8-106 (Azan), 9-110 (Abbas) BOWLING: Robinson 13-6-11-4 (1w), Archer 11.2-1-26-3 (1w), Tongue 6-2-27-2 (1nb), Atkinson 7-1-33-0

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2026

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