Birmingham, September 9, 2026: Half-centuries from Emilio Gay and Harry Brook helped England finish the opening day of the third Test against Pakistan with a 23-run lead at Edgbaston on Wednesday.
England reached 156/4 at stumps, with Brook unbeaten on 52 and Dan Lawrence on five, after Pakistan were bowled out for 133 earlier in the day.
Resuming their first innings at 24/2 after tea, England lost captain Joe Root for 14 in the second over of the final session when debutant Razaullah trapped him lbw.
Gay was then joined by Brook, and the pair launched a strong recovery against Pakistan’s attack, adding 104 runs for the fourth wicket.
Razaullah finally broke the partnership in the closing stages, dismissing Gay for 60 off 114 balls. The opener struck nine fours and remained England’s leading scorer of the innings.
Brook and Lawrence then negotiated the remaining deliveries cautiously, adding an unbeaten 13 for the fifth wicket to ensure England ended the day in control.
Razaullah was Pakistan’s leading bowler with two wickets, while Abbas and Ali claimed one each.
England had earlier endured a difficult start after being asked to respond to Pakistan’s modest total. Ali dismissed Ben Duckett for 11 in the fourth over, with the opener caught in the slips to leave England at 12/1.
Abbas then trapped Jordan Cox lbw for six just 13 deliveries later, reducing the hosts to 24/2.
Root joined Gay and the pair steadied the innings with an 11-run stand before Root’s dismissal opened the way for Brook to join Gay.
Pakistan, meanwhile, had resumed their first innings at 100/7 after lunch but managed only 33 further runs before being dismissed for 133 in 33.5 overs.
Ollie Robinson struck immediately after the interval, removing Razaullah for 11 from 11 balls.
Saud Shakeel, who had held Pakistan’s innings together, added six runs with Abbas before Josh Tongue bowled him for 43 off 47 deliveries. Saud hit seven fours and finished as Pakistan’s top scorer.
Abbas offered some resistance with a 36-ball 21 before Jofra Archer dismissed him, completing figures of 3/25 from 7.5 overs.
Tongue was England’s most successful bowler, taking four wickets for 42 runs in 10 overs, while Robinson claimed three.
Pakistan’s innings had begun disastrously after Saim Ayub was trapped lbw by Robinson for a 10-ball duck in the third over.
Archer then removed Azan Awais for nine, leaving Pakistan at 14/2 after 5.5 overs.
Robinson struck again to dismiss Abdullah Shafique for three before Archer removed former captain Shan Masood for five in the following over, reducing Pakistan to 28/4.
Pakistan lost their fifth wicket in the 15th over when Tongue bowled captain Babar Azam for seven off 18 balls.
Debutant wicketkeeper-batter Ghazi Ghori briefly opened his Test account with a boundary but was dismissed by Tongue for four, while another debutant, Imran Randhawa, fell to the same bowler for his third wicket of the innings as Pakistan slumped to 84/7 after 20.4 overs.
