England's Resilient 248-9 Sets Up Tense Test Against Pakistan

Lord’s under low cloud has seen far greater scores than 248-9. It has also seen far worse days to bat. By the close of a strange, stuttering opening day in the second Rothesay Test, England had found something in between: not a statement, but a total with teeth.

Jamie Smith’s 61 and Jordan Cox’s 55 were the backbone of it, built in the damp, in the gloom and under relentless examination from a much sharper Pakistan attack. Gus Atkinson’s unbeaten 34 at the death then dragged England from vulnerable to vaguely satisfied. On a day shortened by rain and strangled by bad light, those contributions mattered.

Whether they prove enough will depend on how this Lord’s surface ages and how much more rain seeps into the story over the next three days. For now, 248-9 feels like a number you can either make look generous or miserly with one good – or bad – session.

England scrap through the murk

This was not the patched-up, listless Pakistan that folded at Headingley. Babar Azam’s return from a hand injury brought authority back to the tourists, and his first act – winning the toss – set the tone. England were sent in under thick cloud, with the floodlights burning and three fast‑medium seamers licking their lips.

Muhammad Abbas, in particular, was ruthless. He probed, he teased, and at one point he ripped out three wickets for four runs in 16 balls. Emilio Gay, Ben Duckett and Joe Root all went in that spell, the innings suddenly wobbling on its axis.

Gay’s dismissal, caught down the leg side, carried the feel of a hard-luck story. Duckett and Root had less mitigation. The new captain, so dominant at Headingley, was dropped on one at third slip by Imam-ul-Haq but added only three more before Abbas had him anyway. The reprieve barely registered on the scoreboard.

England did themselves few favours. Dan Lawrence, handed another chance in a week when off-field behaviour has dominated the narrative, ran himself out for 17 after earlier being shelled by Shan Masood at mid-wicket. Harry Brook, usually so clinical, was bowled driving by Mohammad Ali, undone by the ball nipping down the Lord’s slope.

These were the moments when Pakistan could have broken the day open. They didn’t.

Smith and Cox steady a shaky ship

At 137-5, with the ball jagging and the slips suddenly animated, England needed resistance. Smith and Cox supplied it with a partnership that was as stubborn as it was stylish.

Smith, under pressure for runs and for rhythm, found both. His 61 was not a blaze of boundaries but a calm, assured half-century that England badly needed. He left well, drove when the ball finally over-pitched, and refused to be drawn into the loose strokes that had claimed others.

Cox, in only his third Test, looked like a man who has already decided he belongs here. He rolled his sleeves up and dug in, but there was a quiet authority to his 55, a sense that he understood the tempo of the day. Together they added 67 for the sixth wicket, dragging England away from the edge of another collapse and into something more competitive.

The arm wrestle was on. Pakistan’s seamers kept hammering away; England’s sixth-wicket pair kept answering. Neither side ever quite broke free.

When Ali returned to nip one back down the slope and bowl Smith, and later Robinson, the balance tipped again. The tourists had their tails up, the ball still talking, the light worsening.

Then Atkinson arrived.

Atkinson swings the mood

Gus Atkinson played like a man who had no interest in going quietly. His unbeaten 34 was a late burst of defiance, full of crisp strokes that cut across the narrative of struggle that had defined the day.

With the innings threatening to tail off meekly, Atkinson’s counter-attack pushed England towards something Pakistan will have to respect. It was not reckless; it was calculated, sharp, and it changed the tone of the closing hour.

Pakistan, though, will know they let chances slip. Literally. Three catches went down: Root shelled by Imam early, Lawrence given a life by Masood before being run out anyway, and most tellingly a drop from Mohammad Rizwan that summed up a day when the keeper and slips often stood too deep. Edges fell short, chances died in front of them, and England survived more often than they should have.

Abbas still walked off with 4-56, Ali with three wickets and the knowledge that his method – full, straight, using the slope – works here. On another day, with cleaner fielding, England might not have reached 200.

A tight Test brewing

This is a series England are desperate to win, not least after another bruising week off the field. Brydon Carse’s removal from the squad following a night out in Derby and an ongoing police investigation has dragged the spotlight away from cricket yet again. Root’s second stint as captain has already been about restoring order and standards. A first Test series win since 2024 would help.

To get there, his bowlers will have to make this 248-9 count.

Under that dark sky, with the ball still moving and the floodlights on, England would have loved a crack at Pakistan’s top order before stumps. Bad light said no. Babar’s men will start fresh, knowing that if they bat well on a surface better than the New Zealand Test strip in June, they can take control of this match and haul themselves back into the series.

Equally, they know their batting has looked fragile. Had England won the toss, you suspect the visiting line-up might already be under severe examination.

Instead, the contest remains delicately poised. England have something to bowl at. Pakistan have something to chase, and a point to prove. With more rain looming and both sides still searching for their best cricket, this could tighten into the kind of Lord’s Test that turns on a single spell, a single session, a single mistake.