Delhi: England's fast bowlers wreaked havoc in the third and final Test match being played at Edgbaston ground in Birmingham. After losing the toss and coming to bat first, the entire Pakistan team collapsed for just 133 runs in the first innings. In the humid environment of Edgbaston, England's pace battery tightened its grip to such an extent that Pakistani batsmen kept returning to the pavilion on the lines of Ayaram-Gayaram.
Half the team was out for 48 runs.
After the crushing 194-run defeat in the Lord's Test, Pakistan made four major changes in its team and gave debut to three new players. However, even this change could not change the fate. By the 15th over, half of Pakistan's team i.e. 5 batsmen were resting in the pavilion with a total score of just 48 runs.
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Is this the worst Pakistan team you've ever seen? 🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/3Tv5xfCqbK
— Sherry. (@CallMeSheri1_) September 9, 2026
Opener Sam Ayyub (0) was saved from becoming a victim of Robinson on the fifth ball of the match with the help of review, but the umpire's LBW decision on the very next ball sent him to the pavilion. This also became the 100th wicket of Olly Robinson's Test career. After this, Azan Awas (9), Abdullah Shafiq (3) and Shan Masood (5) were also dismissed cheaply. After losing 4 wickets for 26 runs, Pakistan had high expectations from captain Babar Azam, but he too was bowled after scoring 7 runs on an excellent ball of Josh Tong.
Saud Shakeel played a fighting innings
Experienced Saud Shakeel showed some fighting spirit for troubled Pakistan. Shakeel played an aggressive inning of 43 runs in 47 balls with the help of 7 fours. On the other hand, debuting wicketkeeper Ghazi Ghori (4) opened his account by hitting a four on his very first ball, but was trapped LBW by a straight ball from Josh Tong.
After this, Tong uprooted the stumps of another debutant Mohammad Imran Randhawa (5) with his accurate yorker. Third debutant Razaullah (11) definitely hit some big shots, but just after lunch, he was caught by Ben Duckett at slip off Robinson's ball. Shakeel was also clean bowled by Josh Tong on a beautiful ball, breaking Pakistan's last hope.
Highest partnership for 10th wicket
The most surprising thing for Pakistan was that the biggest partnership of their entire innings was for the 10th wicket. Mohammad Abbas (21) and Mohammad Ali (5*) together added 26 runs for the last wicket. This figure was more than the total runs (20 runs) of Pakistan's opening partnerships in the five innings of this entire series. Jofra Archer ended Pakistan's innings by getting Abbas caught in the slip.
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English bowlers wreaked havoc
For England, fast bowler Josh Tong was the most successful, taking 4 wickets for 42 runs. At the same time, Olly Robinson took 3 wickets for just 15 runs in 11 overs at a very economical economy of 1.36. Comeback star Joffra Archer also achieved 3 successes by giving 25 runs.
On the basis of this lethal performance by the England bowlers, the host team has gained a strong hold on the match in the very first innings of the last Test of the series.