Razaullah's Spectacular Innings Turns Test Match at Edgbaston

Edgbaston expected a procession. It got a riot.

England walked off on Friday evening needing only 130, but they did so with shoulders slumped and tempers frayed after Pakistan debutant Razaullah tore up the script and very nearly the stadium.

The 21-year-old, in at number nine with Pakistan still behind and apparently clinging on for respect, detonated the day. His 81 from 63 balls, laced with nine sixes, dragged Pakistan from 318-8 to 449 and turned a flat, fading series into a live contest heading into the weekend.

Nine times he cleared the ropes, equalling Ben Stokes’ record for most sixes in a Test innings in England. Nine times Edgbaston gasped, then roared. By the time Dan Lawrence finally stumped him to close the innings, the ground was on its feet and England’s bowlers were staring at the turf.

The chase will resume on Saturday. It should be straightforward. It no longer feels like it.

Pakistan refuse to fold

For two days this had threatened to be a mercy killing.

Bowled out for 133 on day one, then 0-2 second time around, Pakistan looked destined for a three-day humiliation, spared only by Thursday’s bad weather. Instead, day three brought resistance, calculation and finally outright defiance.

From 55-2 overnight and 268 runs adrift, Shan Masood and Azan Awais began the repair job. They were patient without being timid, stretching their third-wicket stand to 125 and, crucially, dragging the game into something resembling a contest.

Awais, only 21, drove crisply through the off side and looked entirely at home until he feathered Lawrence’s off-spin down the leg side for 59. It was a soft way to go, but not before he had shown enough to be marked down as a serious prospect.

Masood, calm and compact, kept going. He added another 89 with Babar Azam and seemed destined for a farewell hundred in the country where he went to school. Instead, he was robbed of it in brutal fashion: Gus Atkinson found the edge and Lawrence, at gully, flung out one hand to cling on and end Masood’s innings on 95. A fine knock, cut off one stroke short of the landmark.

Babar, all timing and elegance for his 76, found a different kind of examination. England switched to a short-ball plan either side of tea, dug the ball into the pitch and tested his nerve as much as his technique. Eventually, Josh Tongue got his man with a bouncer, Babar fending awkwardly to confirm what looked then like a three-day finish.

At that point, Pakistan were still fighting, but the script was familiar: honourable resistance, inevitable defeat.

Razaullah tore that up.

‘Razball’ lights up Edgbaston

This was meant to be a dead rubber. Instead, in the evening light, a Test match finally broke out.

Razaullah, one of seven fresh faces drafted in for this match, had already impressed with the ball in England’s first innings. With the bat, he went from curiosity to sensation in an hour of mayhem.

When he arrived, Pakistan were 318-8, still two runs behind, the innings apparently tottering towards a routine end. He started with a few clean swings, then a few more. Soon, it was carnage.

He struck the ball flat and long, picking up length early and swinging through the line. What began as freewheeling fun turned into a calculated assault. Atkinson disappeared into the Edgbaston building site, three times in one over. Jofra Archer, rattled and visibly annoyed, watched two blows sail straight back over his head.

The numbers told one story: 81 off 63, nine sixes, a record-equalling barrage for a Test debutant, matching Tim Southee’s mark. The mood told another. England’s bowlers, so dominant all series, suddenly looked out of ideas and out of breath.

Crucially, Razaullah was not alone. Muhammad Abbas joined in with a mischievous 42, adding 121 for the eighth wicket. He reverse-swept Lawrence, then muscled Ollie Robinson over cow corner twice. Pakistan, who had not passed 200 or batted beyond 51 overs in the series before this innings, now looked like a team reborn.

As the light dipped, the pair threatened to bat through to the close. Abbas finally poked Tongue to point, ending a stand that had shredded England’s plans and Pakistan’s inferiority complex in one go.

The chaos did not stop there. In a frantic finish, Razaullah clubbed Lawrence for his record-equalling ninth six, survived an lbw decision on review to a roar from the Hollies Stand, then charged once more and was stumped. He walked off to a rapturous ovation, a new hero minted in an hour of fearless hitting.

England’s new regime feels the heat

For most of this series, England’s attack has operated on cruise control. Conditions have helped, Pakistan’s batting has crumbled, and Joe Root’s captaincy – so often questioned in his first stint – has barely been tested.

Friday evening changed that.

For much of the day, England were solid. When the ball moved, they hit a disciplined length. When it went flat, they switched to the short ball at the right moments, and sharp catches backed up the plans. Tongue’s 4-42 in the first innings, the pressure from Robinson, the hostility from Archer – it had all felt part of a smooth operation.

Then Razaullah and Abbas arrived, and the method vanished.

Fields scattered to the boundary. Bouncers flew without conviction. When England tried to go full and attack the stumps, they either missed their mark or found Pakistan suddenly defending with authority. The bowlers, so sure of themselves for two and a half days, started searching for magic balls instead of building pressure.

Robinson, in the form of his life, watched as Root handed the second new ball to Lawrence. It was a curious decision and it backfired, Lawrence disappearing for more punishment as Razaullah swung harder. Archer could not hide his frustration at the treatment he received, and at one point Root left the field, leaving his side to absorb the onslaught.

By the end, the plan had disintegrated into Atkinson bowling bouncers with eight fielders on the rope, a scene more reminiscent of a T20 slog than a Test match England had dominated.

The late wickets brought some relief, but not much comfort. England trudged off, chastened and irritated, their 3-0 clean sweep still on but no longer inevitable.

Pakistan, written off and ridiculed for much of this tour, have finally found a voice. England still hold the advantage and should chase 130. After Razaullah’s evening of chaos, though, nobody inside Edgbaston will take a single run for granted.