Root and Cox Lead England to Series Victory

England flirted with disaster, then walked to victory.

Chasing just 130 at Edgbaston, the hosts turned a routine task into a mini-crisis inside six balls, slumping to 2 for 2 and briefly inviting Pakistan back into a series they had largely controlled. By lunch, though, Joe Root and Jordan Cox were walking off unbeaten, the scoreboard reading an emphatic eight-wicket win and the series settled 3-0.

The morning began with a jolt. First ball of the day, Ben Duckett pushed uncertainly at Mohammad Abbas, a thin edge carrying through to the keeper. One down, tension in the stands. Five balls later, it tightened further. Emilio Gay, pinned on the crease, was trapped lbw by Abbas. England’s chase, supposedly straightforward, had turned messy in an instant.

At 2 for 2, Pakistan suddenly had a foothold. The comeback that debutant Razaullah had ignited with the bat on the third evening no longer felt fanciful. It felt possible.

Razaullah, though, could not extend that momentum with the ball. His first spell leaked runs, England’s nerves easing with every misdirected delivery. Pakistan moved quickly, turning to Mohammad Ali in search of control and a spark. For one glorious moment, they had both.

Ali went through Root with a beauty, the stumps shattered, celebrations erupting. Then came the cruel twist: the umpire checked the front foot. Overstep. No ball. Root, reprieved, turned on his heel and reset. The punishment was instant. The very next ball, he drove crisply to the rope. In the following over, Cox joined in, threading his own boundary to settle himself and England.

Pakistan’s chance had come. It had also gone.

The visitors still had an opening when Abbas once again found Root’s outside edge. This time the ball flew at a comfortable height between first and second slip. Neither moved. Both watched. Another opportunity spilled, this one without even a dive to show for it.

From there, the contest drained away. With the target small and the pressure easing, Root and Cox batted with increasing authority. The early panic gave way to method. Singles milked, gaps found, bowlers worn down. Pakistan’s fields spread, their body language sagged.

Root, as so often, turned a tricky situation into a personal milestone. A punchy boundary took him to fifty, and with it he moved clear for the most half-centuries in the format’s history. It was a record reached not with fanfare, but with the calm assurance that has defined his career.

At the other end, Cox quietly built something important of his own. Given a genuine opportunity in a live chase, he refused to waste it. Compact, disciplined, then increasingly fluent, he too raised his half-century, matching Root’s composure if not yet his pedigree. This was a young player showing he belongs.

By the time the players broke for lunch, the job was done. England had cruised home, the unbroken century stand between Root and Cox wiping away the early chaos and sealing a 3-0 series triumph with a final margin that read far more comfortable than the first over suggested.

Pakistan will look back at Edgbaston and see a handful of moments: Razaullah’s sparkling debut with the bat, Ali’s no-ball that should have removed Root, the slips frozen as another edge flew between them. England will remember something else entirely — the sight of their premier batter, record in hand, and a new partner at his side, steering them through turbulence and into clear blue space.

On mornings like this, you glimpse the spine of a team and the shape of its future.