England thrash Pakistan by 194 runs for series win
- Last updated: August 31, 2026 | 10:52
England beat Pakistan by 194 runs in four days of the second cricket Test at Lord's on Sunday and comfortably won its first Test series since December 2024 with a match to spare.
Pakistan was inevitably bowled for 194 in a daunting chase of 389 about 45 minutes after tea. Saud Shakeel led his team's first batting resistance in the series and was caught on the boundary for an agonizing 97, the highest score in the series for either team.
England had to take only 18 wickets because opening batter Imam-ul-Haq never appeared after tearing his left calf muscle on the first day.
Ollie Robinson led England's four seamers with eight wickets, including 4-24 on Sunday and a staggering 8-35 in 27 overs in the match. He was voted the player of the match for a third time in three straight Tests.
"It helps to have three (other) guys who bowl at 90 mph, it allows me to just dot up at one end and build the pressure," he said. "It's quite a nice pairing (with Jofra Archer) to open the bowling, someone bowling that quickly and swinging the ball the other way from me. Long may it continue."
England has won a series at its first attempt in the post- Bazball era under new captain Joe Root and Marcus Trescothick, the interim coach until Stephen Fleming arrives next month."It does feel good and fully deserved as well. The guys have been excellent,” Root told the BBC.
"We had the worst of the conditions for most of the game, and we had to work hard for it towards the back end. Fair play to Saud, I thought he played nicely but the relentless nature in which the guys kept coming at you always felt like we were going to get there in the end.”
They will go for a 3-0 sweep against Pakistan from Sept. 9 in Birmingham.
Pakistan suffered its 10th defeat in its last 11 away Tests. Its lack of batting grit in the series - it still hasn't cracked a 200 total - made Shakeel's resilience against Robinson's relentless line and length and Archer's searing pace the highlight of the afternoon.
Shakeel and Shan Masood fashioned a 97-run partnership from 14-3 that frustrated England for nearly four hours.
But Robinson broke the partnership an hour out from a delayed tea when he pinned Masood. Robinson quickly added Mohammad Rizwan, his 99th Test wicket, and didn't bowl again.
Shakeel missed the preceding Test series in the Caribbean, and despite 5 and 14 in the innings loss in Leeds last week he retained a 51 average against England. Masood was sacked as captain in May but was retained for his experience.
Masood battened down the hatches while the 1.68-meter (5-foot-6) Shakeel threw most of the punches. By lunch they were dug in and unthreatened.
England’s frustration became obvious after lunch as it frequently and vainly asked the umpires to check the ball, and resorted to Dan Lawrence's part-time off-spin for only the second time in the series.
Meanwhile, Shakeel reached 50 off 54 balls, his 15th half-century in Tests and second outside of Asia.
Robinson’s return with wicketkeeper Jamie Smith up at the stumps got the breakthrough for England when he trapped Masood lbw on leg stump, out for 26 from 72 balls. Their resistance lasted 23 overs.
Robinson had 3-15 and then 4-17 when Mohammad Rizwan on 1 missed a swat and was struck in the groin, plumb in front of off stump. Robinson's brief but outstanding summer has netted 23 wickets in three Tests at an average of 8.
He took 7-77 against New Zealand in June and 8-80 against Pakistan in Leeds. The most recent England bowlers to take at least seven wickets in three consecutive matches were Steve Harmison in 2003-04 and Ian Botham in 1984-85.
With only the tailenders left, Shakeel accelerated his magnificent lone hand. Two sixes and a boundary in a single over off Josh Tongue helped to rush him to 97. But another swipe at Tongue got him caught at backward square leg. Shakeel trudged off to a standing ovation.Tongue finished the match 20 minutes later with the last two wickets.
Also applauded was 36-year-old Pakistan medium-pacer Mohammad Abbas, who made the Lord’s honors board for the first time with 5-57. Abbas resumed the day on 3-48 and removed Lawrence, England’s innings high-scorer with 54, and Robinson to a sharp catch at the stumps by Rizwan and punched the air and bowed on the grass.
He took 9-130 in the game, the second best bowling figures for Pakistan at the famed venue after Yasir Shah’s 10-141 in 2016.
Associated Press