Pakistan's Struggles Continue as England Dominates Test Match

Edgbaston waits for a contest that may already be over. Friday is the only sold‑out day of this third Test, yet even that guarantee on the gate might not translate into a full house. The series feels settled, the script largely written since Pakistan’s chaotic collapse on the first morning and England’s merciless response on the second.

On the field, though, there is still cricket to be had. And plenty of it, if Pakistan can somehow stiffen their resolve.

They will resume on 52 for two, still 268 runs short of making England bat again. Joe Root’s side are eight wickets away from a 3-0 clean sweep and an empty weekend. The equation is brutally simple; the route to it, less so for a Pakistan side that has been outplayed and out-thought.

England feast, but centuries go begging

The day had started with England in a position of strength at 156 for four. By tea, that had swollen into 453 all out, a total that underlined both their dominance and Pakistan’s inability to sustain pressure.

Yet the scorecard carried its own small regrets.

Harry Brook, cruising towards what looked an inevitable hundred, managed to run himself out for 75. It was a dismissal that felt entirely avoidable, the kind that leaves a batter staring at the dressing-room floor rather than the scoreboard.

Dan Lawrence followed with 65, chopping on when set. Another chance for a statement innings, gone with a misjudged stroke.

Then Jamie Smith, batting through the discomfort of a suspected broken finger, battled his way to 69. He had earned the right to think about three figures. Instead, he too departed short of the milestone, a brave effort ending in frustration.

Three players, three impressive contributions, three centuries missed. England still surged past 450, but the middle order walked off with a nagging sense of what might have been.

Robinson hunts a quick kill

If Pakistan hoped for a steady start in reply, Ollie Robinson tore up that plan in his first over after tea.

Saim Ayub, drafted in and under pressure, lasted just one ball. He pushed hard at Robinson’s opener and sent it straight to Brook at second slip, completing a pair for the match. Four balls later, Abdullah Shafique feathered another to Root at slip. Two wickets in four deliveries, a double-wicket maiden, and the sense that England might finish this inside two days.

Robinson barely celebrated; he stalked back to his mark like a man who fancied a few more before stumps. He even exchanged a few words with Shafique on his way off, the body language of a bowler who knows he has a batting line-up on the hook.

The irony is that this wasn’t even his fiercest opening burst of the summer. He had already ripped through New Zealand with three wickets in his first over at Lord’s in June. This was just another reminder of the control and menace he brings with the new ball.

Pakistan, reeling at two down almost before they had drawn breath, looked ripe for a collapse that would have ended the match there and then.

Rain, drops and Root’s safe hands

Nature intervened. Rain swept in from the west and hacked the evening session down to just 12.4 overs. The final image of the day was not Robinson wheeling away in celebration, but the covers being dragged across the Edgbaston outfield.

There was still time for one more twist. Shan Masood, on 13, edged to third slip where Ben Duckett flung himself to his right and could not cling on. A sharp chance, but a costly miss in the context of a side trying to shut the door on any resistance.

By then, Root had already reclaimed his old territory at first slip, where he pouched Shafique’s edge for his 220th career catch. That took him past Steve Smith to regain the outfield-catching record and, perhaps, restored a little order after Duckett’s two drops in the same position on the opening day.

It also spoke to a broader truth: this England attack no longer needs Root prowling at mid-off, whispering in ears and plotting fields. They are operating on instinct and confidence, their grip on Pakistan so firm that the captain can afford to patrol the cordon instead.

Atkinson’s thankless shift

One man, though, could do with a change in fortune. Gus Atkinson, the bowler denied by Duckett’s spill, has endured a curiously barren series.

While England’s quicks have torn through Pakistan like a side locked in a speed-eating contest, Atkinson’s return stands at one for 172. The numbers look brutal. The reality is kinder: he has bowled with decent rhythm and little reward, a thankless role in a series where everyone else has dined out.

He will run in again on Friday with the match all but decided, searching for the wickets his effort probably deserves.

Edgbaston may or may not fill every seat. The series may be drifting to its inevitable conclusion. But for England’s bowlers, eight wickets away from a clean sweep, the job is not done until Pakistan are finally prised apart.