England vs Pakistan Headingley Test: The first match of the three-Test series between England and Pakistan, which started at Headingley, had a very bad start for Pakistan. Opener Azan Awais was out without opening the account on the very first ball of the innings. Ollie Robinson made him LBW with a brilliant ball and with this, Awais became the second opener in Pakistan’s Test history to be out on the first ball.
There was a lot of movement in Robinson’s ball from the beginning. This right-arm fast bowler bowled a wobble-seam ball to left-handed batsman Awais, which came in quickly after hitting the pitch. Awais could not understand the line of the ball and missed the ball while trying to play a shot with the bat. The ball hit his pad directly and umpire Chris Gaffney immediately raised his finger.
Wicket on first ball, Pakistan took review
Awes was confident that the ball might have hit the bat, so Pakistan immediately took a review. However, replays dashed the batsman’s hopes. Snickometer and replays showed a clear difference between bat and ball. After this, ball-tracking also proved the umpire’s decision correct.
Tracking of the ball hitting the stumps showed all three reds and the ball was said to hit the upper part of the middle stump. As soon as the review was over, Awais had to return to the pavilion. In front of his name on the scorecard was – 0 runs, 1 ball.
This happened for the second time after 1983
Azan Awais’s departure on the first ball included him in a very unwanted record of Pakistan. Earlier in Pakistan’s Test history, only one opener had been out on the first ball. This incident happened in the Jalandhar Test against India in 1983, when Pakistan’s opening batsman Mohsin Khan had to return to the pavilion on the very first ball. After almost four decades, Awais joined this list as the second name. This means that in the test history of Pakistan, there are now only two openers who have lost their wicket on the very first ball of the innings.
Robinson made a special record in England
This wicket was not just an initial success for Robinson either. By taking a wicket on the first ball against Pakistan at Headingley, he registered his name in a very select record of England. He has become only the fourth English bowler to take a wicket on the first ball of a Test match on English soil.
Earlier, three bowlers had achieved this feat. In 1926, Maurice Tate dismissed Warren Bardsley on the first ball against Australia in Leeds. After this, in 1974, Geoff Arnold sent India’s Sunil Gavaskar to the pavilion with the first ball in Birmingham. Then in 2007, Ryan Sidebottom dismissed West Indies’ Darren Ganga on the first ball of the Test at Chester-le-Street. Now the fourth name of Ollie Robinson has been added to this special list.
Made his return to the England team memorable
This debut was also special for Robinson because he returned to the England Test team after a long gap. Before this, he had played his last Test against New Zealand at Lord’s in June. In that match, he bowled brilliantly and gave an impressive performance of 77 runs for 7 wickets. After returning to Test cricket after almost two years, Robinson, who performed brilliantly at Lord’s, once again proved his usefulness by taking a wicket on the first ball in the very next Test of his return at Headingley.
Robinson did not stop after one wicket
After taking the wicket of Awais, the impact of Robinson’s bowling continued on Pakistan’s top order. He was not satisfied with just giving the initial blow, but made four of the top five batsmen of Pakistan his victims. Pakistani batsmen were in constant trouble in front of his precise line-length and ability to move the ball from both sides.
The morning session was cut short due to rain, but after the resumption of play, England increased the pressure on Pakistan. Pakistan’s score immediately started faltering and the entire team was reduced to 171 runs. Robinson took 5 wickets for 51 runs in 18 overs. Apart from him, Josh Tong also took 5 wickets.
Big crisis for Pakistan due to bad start
Losing a wicket on the first ball of a test match is a big blow for any team. The problem for Pakistan increased because even after this, Robinson did not give much chance to the top order to breathe. For Pakistan, Abdullah Shafiq scored 61 runs, Imam-ul-Haq scored 42 runs and captain Salman Ali Aga scored 21 runs.
On one hand, Awais got an unwanted record of getting out on the first ball, while on the other hand, Robinson made a place in the special list of those bowlers of England who have taken a wicket on the first ball of the Test on their home soil.
In this way, the Headingley Test did not start with just one wicket, but from the very first ball, both records and history started being written. While Pakistan suffered a major setback in the beginning, England and Robinson strengthened their hold on the match in the initial session itself.