Ollie Robinson Dominates Pakistan as England Takes Control at Lord’s

On a murky, mischievous Lord’s afternoon, Ollie Robinson turned a tight contest into a rout. Thirteen overs, four wickets, eleven runs. Pakistan, who had arrived with intent after winning the toss, were bundled out for 110 and left staring at another heavy defeat in this three-match series.

The pitch had plenty to say, but Robinson spoke loudest.

Robinson and Archer cut Pakistan down

Pakistan’s reply to England’s 253 started badly and never really recovered. Jofra Archer, back in rhythm and snarling with pace, ripped out the top order before Robinson dismantled what was left.

Shan Masood, promoted to open with Imam-ul-Haq nursing a calf injury, lasted just long enough to misjudge a 91 mph full ball from Archer. Flat-footed, he edged to Jamie Smith for one. Abdullah Shafique followed in the final over before lunch, fencing at Josh Tongue and nicking behind to leave Pakistan 16-2.

The tone was set. The ball jagged, the seamers hunted.

Babar Azam tried to drag the innings into respectability. He got going in trademark style, lacing Tongue through the covers for four, then flashing Gus Atkinson to the boundary. It looked ominous for England for all of a couple of overs. Then Tongue drew the edge, Jordan Cox flung himself at third slip, and Pakistan’s captain departed for a brief, bristling cameo. At 30-3, the pattern from Headingley – 171 and 135 – felt horribly familiar for the tourists.

From there, Robinson took over.

He trapped Saud Shakeel lbw for 16, one of only two Pakistan batters to reach double figures. Mohammad Rizwan followed in the same fashion, pinned in front by another ball that straightened late. Ali Usman chopped Archer onto his stumps. The tail folded quickly, Robinson’s figures tightening with every over as Pakistan’s resistance thinned.

An innings that lasted just 37.2 overs ended with Pakistan nine down and one man short. Imam, injured while fielding on Thursday, never made it to the crease. Archer finished it with a flourish, crashing into Mohammad Abbas’s off stump to close the innings on 110.

Azan Awais, opening and dropped on eight by Harry Brook in the slips, stood alone with a gritty 46. He absorbed Archer’s fastest spell, survived Robinson’s relentlessness and still walked off with his side in ruins.

England’s tail bites, then the top wobbles

Pakistan’s collapse came only after their bowlers had dragged them back into the contest earlier in the day.

England resumed on 248-9, having been rescued on Thursday by half-centuries from Smith and Cox after Abbas’s superb burst of 3-4 in 16 balls shredded the top order. Atkinson, 34 not out overnight, and Tongue on one, looked like a brief formality for Pakistan’s seamers.

Instead, they were made to toil.

Tongue glanced Mohammad Ali for four, then drilled Abbas through the covers. Atkinson, who already owns a Lord’s Test century, drove Ali Usman’s third ball of the morning for four. The pair added 47 for the last wicket, frustrating a Pakistan attack that lacked genuine pace and bite on a surface crying out for it.

It took the introduction of Ali Usman’s left-arm spin to break them. Atkinson, having just driven him sweetly, holed out next ball for 45, leaving Tongue unbeaten on 30 – his best Test score – and England with 253 that suddenly felt substantial.

The mood shifted again once England batted for a second time.

Under low cloud and under lights, Khurram Shahzad briefly threatened to haul Pakistan back into the match. Ben Duckett miscued a half-volley to mid-off for one. Cox, fresh from his first-innings fifty, was pinned lbw on review for 11. England were 13-2 and wobbling on a pitch that still spat and seamed.

Joe Root walked out into a familiar kind of crisis.

Root falls, but England stretch away

Root and Emilio Gay steadied the innings, not by dominating but by surviving. Edges dropped short, plays and misses came and went, but the pair inched the lead past 200 and quietened the Pakistan fielders.

Then came another twist.

On 24, Root was nailed in front by a ball that nipped back from Mohammad Ali. No escape, no debate. It was the ninth time in 12 Test innings that Root has fallen lbw, a pattern that will not have gone unnoticed in opposition dressing rooms.

Next ball, Ali roared again as Brook was given out lbw, only for the review to show a thick inside edge. The reprieve felt significant. England were 81-3 when bad light closed in, Brook still there, Gay alongside him, the lead stretched to 261 and growing.

From the field, Archer’s verdict summed up the mood in the home dressing room. On this pitch, he said, “there was a ball with your name on it today,” and a lead of this size “is a lot of runs.”

He may be right. The surface has offered constant movement, the seamers have dominated, and Pakistan’s fragile batting has already buckled three times in the series.

England will return knowing one strong session with the bat should leave Pakistan chasing something mountainous. Pakistan, staring at another uphill fourth-innings scrap, must decide whether they can find a way to blunt Robinson and Archer or resign themselves to another brutal examination.