Joe Root led England to a 3-0 Test series whitewash over Pakistan after scoring an unbeaten 62 in the third Test at Edgbaston. England were chasing 130 for victory but got off to a poor start. Ben Duckett was dismissed by Mohammad Abbas with the first ball of the innings, while opener Emilio Gay also fell later in the same over.At 2 for 2, Pakistan had a chance to put England under pressure. But Root and Jordan Cox remained calm and slowly took control of the chase.It was the first time England had whitewashed Pakistan in a home Test series.Root survived a big scare when Mohammad Ali bowled him for 23, only for the delivery to be called a no-ball. It was Ali’s 17th no-ball of the series.Pakistan then missed another opportunity when Root, on 38, edged Abbas between first and second slip. Neither fielder went for the catch.Root made Pakistan pay for the missed chances. His unbeaten 62 was his 110th Test innings of 50 or more, a tally that includes 41 centuries.Cox remained unbeaten on 59 as England reached the target in the 25th over with eight wickets in hand.
Root praises Pakistan’s fight
Pakistan had shown more fight in the third Test after conceding a huge 320-run first-innings deficit.Root said the difficult chase was useful for England after Pakistan had put them under pressure.“Fair play to Pakistan, ?they threw some punches last night. They made it very difficult for us and in some ways it’s a good thing to go through that,” said Root.“Test cricket is not always going to go your own way but to see us actually be quite clinical with the bat off the back of that was good too. So ?in many ways we’re better for it.“Of course there’s things we will want to improve on but we ?came into this ?series with a lot of question marks and a lot of noise around the team and we’ve walked away 3-0 winners so ?in that respect I’m quite ?pleased.”
England bounce back after difficult period
The series came after a difficult period for England, who had been looking to recover from their defeat to New Zealand following the Ashes loss.Root’s return to the captaincy after Ben Stokes’ retirement from international cricket ended with a series whitewash.Pakistan had one major positive in the third Test. Debutant Razaullah scored an impressive 81 off 63 balls, giving his team hope and bringing energy to the contest at Edgbaston.
Robinson leads England’s pace attack
England’s fast bowlers were once again too strong for Pakistan on helpful surfaces.Ollie Robinson led the attack and finished the series with 21 wickets to be named England’s player of the series.“I’m a realist, I know it’s not always going to be like this,” said Robinson, England’s player of the series.“We know there’s ?going to be tougher times ahead. We have some tough opposition coming up and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson also played important roles in England’s dominant series win.England’s batting was less convincing, with no batter managing to score a century in the three Tests.Jacob Bethell is expected to return for the winter tour after recovering from knee surgery. That could leave one of Emilio Gay, Dan Lawrence or Cox fighting for a place in the team.Cox, who also kept wicket in the second innings because of Jamie Smith’s finger injury, strengthened his case with his unbeaten 59.
Pakistan face more questions after 3-0 loss
The defeat was another setback for Pakistan, who have now lost 16 of their last 21 Tests.Their tour was also marked by major changes. Seven players were replaced in the squad after the second Test, while coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and his assistant Umar Gul were sacked.Pakistan captain Babar Azam said the team had some positive moments but blamed their first-innings batting for the defeat.“We had a couple of good moments. I think we have bowled well but I think the first innings cost us. Too many soft dismissals,” said Pakistan captain Babar Azam.“I think this was a good opportunity for youngsters to play against quality bowlers, quality opponent, so they learned a lot and I think this is helpful for the future.”Pakistan will now turn their attention to their next assignment against Sri Lanka in October.England, meanwhile, will face South Africa in a three-Test series in December and January. Marcus Trescothick, who had taken over as interim red-ball head coach after Brendon McCullum’s departure, will hand the team over to Stephen Fleming.
