LEEDS, England (AP) 鈥� England’s post-Bazball era got off to an encouraging start Thursday on a dominant Day 1 of the first test against Pakistan, with pacers Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue each taking five wickets to rip through the tourists’ batting lineup at Headingley.
After Pakistan collapsed from 117-3 to 171 all out, England made inroads in the evening session to reach the close on 112-2 and was trailing by just 59 runs.
It could hardly have gone any better for Joe Root, who was beginning his second stint as captain following the retirement of Ben Stokes and was there at stumps on 37 not out alongside Jordan Cox (23 not out) after winning the toss under an overcast sky.
Off the first ball of the three-match series, Robinson pinned Azan Awais with a delivery that nipped back from around the wicket. In his third over, Robinson went over the wicket and trapped Shan Masood (5) trying to drive and Pakistan was 6-2.
Following a two-hour rain delay and a 91-run partnership for the third wicket between Imam-ul-Haq (42) and Abdullah Shafique (61), Robinson and Tongue ran through the Pakistan batters and had figures of 5-51 and 5-46, respectively.
For Robinson, it was another dramatic return. He was playing his first test since June at Lord鈥檚, where he took a match-winning 7-77 against New Zealand in his first test in two years. A knee injury and doubts about his fitness prevented his return in that series that England lost 2-1, leading to the retirement of Stokes and the firing of Brendon McCullum as test coach.
Pakistan, with just two wins in its last seven tests and missing captain Babar Azam (finger injury), provided ideal opponents in the reset and lost its last five wickets for 21 runs in 22 balls.
In the reply, Mohammad Abbas trapped Ben Duckett for 15 and Emilio Gay departed for 33, nicking Mohammad Ali to second slip, but Root and Cox settled England.
Root, in particular, looked in prime form and has already hit six fours.
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