Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue divided all 10 wickets as England marked Joe Root’s return as Test captain with a commanding display on the opening day of the match at Headingley.
Coming just over six weeks after Ben Stokes’ dramatic retirement at Trent Bridge – a chaotic period that also led to the departure of red-ball head coach Brendon McCullum – Root found himself back at the helm of a squad in the middle of a significant transition.
Root’s most notable contribution on day one of the Rothesay Series was winning the toss on home turf and electing to bowl under overcast Yorkshire skies. That decision set the foundation, allowing Robinson and Tongue to complete a thorough bowling demolition.
The visitors were dismissed for 171 inside 48.1 overs on a helpful pitch. Robinson set the tone by taking a wicket with the very first delivery of the match, finishing with figures of five for 51, while Tongue swept through the lower order to claim five for 46.
England made light work of their initial reply, reaching 112 for two by the close. Root and Jordan Cox assembled an unbroken half-century stand, trimming the overnight deficit to just 59 runs.
While the performance signalled an impressive start to Root’s second period as skipper, having spent five years in the role previously over the course of five years, it was an equally significant statement from Robinson.
The 32-year-old paceman was brought back from a two-and-a-half-year international exile at the beginning of the summer, taking a career-best seven-wicket haul against New Zealand. However, he missed the subsequent two matches during the fallout from Stokes’ departure, sitting out at The Oval with a knee twinge before leaving him out at Trent Bridge.
Following another exhibition of accuracy and control, the Sussex seam bowler has made himself virtually impossible to leave out for the foreseeable future of the Test summer.
Given the new ball in helpful conditions, Robinson struck immediately. Operating round the wicket, he brought the ball back into Azan Awais to trap him lbw. Awais’s unsuccessful review ensured he became the first batter in England to be dismissed by the opening ball of a Test series.
With the new era off to an ideal start, Robinson took his second wicket in his third over, beating former Yorkshire captain Shan Masood with swing to trap him in front and reduce Pakistan to six for two.
Rain forced an early lunch break after under an hour’s play, with action resuming at 1.45pm. The stoppage allowed the tourists to settle, with Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique adding 91 for the third wicket, aided by Jofra Archer’s loose leg-side bowling and a rhythm-less opening spell from Tongue.
Tongue, coming off victory in The Hundred with Manchester Super Giants, took time to adjust his length before finding his line to have Imam (42) caught low at second slip by Harry Brook once he finally located his groove.
England seized back momentum through two further strikes from Robinson, bowling relentlessly while keeper Jamie Smith stood up to the stumps. Saud Shakeel fell lbw after a prolonged appeal, running out of time to request a review, before the steady Shafique (61) was bowled through the gate by a delivery that hit leg stump.
Tongue then produced a sensational burst before tea, bowling stand-in captain Salman Ali Agha and Ali Usman in consecutive deliveries to put the hosts in full control. With the tail exposed, Pakistan folded quickly.
Robinson completed his five-wicket haul when Khurram Shahzad chipped carelessly down the ground, while Tongue used his speed and pitch-full trajectory to take three wickets during a 10-ball spell split by the tea break.
The trend of early wickets continued when England batted, with both openers falling inside 10 overs. Mohammad Abbas almost pinned Ben Duckett lbw on his third ball before eventually trapping him in front of middle stump for 15, while Emilio Gay scored a quickfire 33 before edging Mohammad Ali behind.
Root looked untroubled as he reached the close unbeaten on 37, supported by Cox on 23 not out in his audition at number three.
