Joe Root makes most of no-ball luck as England win despite Pakistan scare

It was a run chase that began in alarming fashion for England as Mohammad Abbas hitched up his strides, glided into the crease and sent Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay trudging back to the pavilion at either end of a magical first over.

Pakistan’s players suddenly believed, their supporters inside Edgbaston likewise. After Razaullah’s firework display with the bat the previous evening, it was hard not to wonder whether their penchant for the unexpected – that seemingly innate ability to flip the script from nowhere - was rearing its head once more.

But, albeit with a couple more heart-in-mouth moments, England had enough about them to reel in their target of 130 to complete an eight-wicket victory and their first series clean sweep for two years. Joe Root, 62 not out, and Jordan Cox unbeaten on 59, finished things off by 1.07pm.

“We had a little bit of pushback yesterday, which was, in a strange way, quite a good thing for the group,” said Root, in a nod to Razaullah’s incendiary 81. “But for us to come through it and be so convincing in the way that we’ve finished the series off, and throughout the whole three games really, has been really pleasing.”

Root had walked out at the end of the first over with the scorecard in disarray at two for two. Abbas had nicked off Duckett first ball to continue a rather sorry Test match for England’s opener, and then pinned Gay lbw for a duck that dented some of the credit built up by the left-hander’s 60 in the first innings.

Alongside Cox, whose start to Test cricket has been an assured one, Root immediately got down to business, batting on leg stump in an attempt to minimise the threat of lbw, and the scorecard soon started to tick over. On a pitch with no demons by this stage, all it needed was a couple of calm heads.

Razaullah was unable to roll over his personal momentum after being handed the new ball – an early hand injury did not help – while no frontline spinner meant Abbas with the wicketkeeper stood up was the only way that Babar Azam could make things claustrophobic out in the middle. There were two more chances created along the way and neither came to fruition.

The first came when Root was on 20 and an expansive cover-drive cannoned into his leg-stump. Mohammad Ali was haring off in celebration, only to turn around and see the umpire’s arm outstretched for a front foot no-ball, his his 17th such offence in this series, but the first to rob him of a wicket.

England would have been 36 for three and Root’s response was emphatic, drilling Ali through the covers for four. Abbas then saw an edge off Root’s bat fly between first and second slip on 34 without either man going for it – he was fuming regardless.

The pressure eased, with this thinned-out, day-four crowd essentially watched a 90-minute net, a couple of tidy half-centuries, and the winning runs coming off a mis-field. Root has resumed the England captaincy with a pretty cruisey 3-0 series victory while knowing that tougher challenges are to come.

For Pakistan it was a chance to finally breathe after a helter-skelter tour that saw seven players sent home at 2-0 down, a head coach removed, and a cast of new faces for this third Test. Razaullah, just 21, it may be the start of something special, even if it was not enough to secure the player of the match.

That award instead went to Dan Lawrence, who made 65 with the bat, picked up a couple of wickets with his slightly eccentric off-spin, and two catches that included a one-handed blinder to remove Shan Masood, Pakistan’s top-scorer in their resurgent second innings. Lawrence made three half-centuries in the series and has seven in his career to date. The key now is to bank that first hundred.

“If I keep playing the way that I am, I’m sure that three figures will come,” said Lawrence, whose frustration at getting out on day two was palpable. “I’m desperate to get multiple hundreds for England. Contributing in all three games has really helped my confidence. Hopefully I get the nod to carry on playing.”

With 21 wickets at just shy of nine runs apiece, Ollie Robinson was only ever going to be England’s player of the series. For Pakistan it was Abbas, another master of the wobble seam. The 36-year-old probed to the very end, an island of calm in what at times has been a maelstrom of tour for the visitors.

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