England Beat Pakistan By An Innings As Robinson Claims Eight

England beat Pakistan in the first Test by an innings and 103 runs, closing the match out at Headingley on Friday with more than two days to spare. Pakistan were bowled out for 171 and 135. England answered with 409. Joe Root's first match back in charge lasted under three full days.

Ollie Robinson was named player of the match. He took 8 for 80 across the two innings. Josh Tongue finished with 8 for 89. Jofra Archer removed both openers second time around and ended with 3 for 50. England lead the three-match series 1-0.

Robinson and Tongue take sixteen of the twenty

Between them the two seamers accounted for 16 of the 20 Pakistan wickets. Every wicket in the first innings fell to one of the pair. Tongue took 5 for 46 and Robinson 5 for 51, and Pakistan were gone for 171. The second innings was shared out a little wider, but the pattern held.

• Ollie Robinson: 5 for 51 and 3 for 29, match figures of 8 for 80
• Josh Tongue: 5 for 46 and 3 for 43, match figures of 8 for 89
• Jofra Archer: 3 for 50 in the second innings
• Gus Atkinson: one wicket in the second innings
• Ali Usman: 5 for 95 for Pakistan, a maiden Test five-wicket haul

All 20 wickets fell to seam bowling. Four England bowlers shared them and not one of them was a spinner. Robinson and Tongue did the bulk of it across the three days. Archer and Atkinson closed the second innings out between them.

Brook and Cox build the 409

England's 409 came from the middle order. Harry Brook made 91. Jordan Cox added 73, Root scored 66 and Dan Lawrence 51. The Associated Press reported it as England's first total above 400 in ten Tests. Khurram Shahzad took the last two wickets and finished with 3 for 133.

Root's 66 carried a milestone with it. That was his 68th half-century in Test cricket, which draws him level with Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the all-time list. Shivnarine Chanderpaul sits next on 66. Allan Border and Rahul Dravid share fourth place on 63 apiece.

Pakistan's best work with the ball came from Ali Usman. The spinner took 5 for 95 from 24 overs in his third Test, a first five-wicket haul at this level. He dismissed Brook, Cox, Lawrence, Gus Atkinson and Robinson. He had told the ICC after day two that the surface was already slowing. "Today, when I started bowling, it felt like the ball was gripping," he said.

Pakistan fold for 135

Trailing by 238, Pakistan lasted 37.3 overs. They lost a wicket before a run had been scored, the second time that happened in the match, according to the Associated Press. Archer had both openers. Mohammad Rizwan top scored with 41 from 39 balls. Shan Masood made 29, Abdullah Shafique 15 and Saud Shakeel 14. Robinson and Tongue worked through the middle, and Atkinson removed Rizwan to finish it.

Root's second stint opens with a win

Root last held the England captaincy in 2022 and took it back for this series. Salman Agha led Pakistan in place of Babar Azam. Babar was ruled out with a hand injury picked up in a warm-up match at Beckenham, the ICC reported on 18 August.

"Brilliant performance," Root said, in remarks carried by the Associated Press. He praised "the clarity and way guys approached this". Salman Agha was blunt about the gap: "England have outplayed us. We need to flush this game out and turn it around at Lord's."

Lord's on Thursday

The second Test starts at Lord's on Thursday. Sky Sports notes England have not taken a Test series since beating New Zealand in December 2024. A win in London would end that wait. Both sides came into this series near the foot of the World Test Championship table, England seventh and Pakistan eighth on the standings published on 16 August.

Babar's fitness is the first question for the tourists. A batting order that managed 171 and 135 is the second. Ali Usman is the one selection that looks settled. He bowled 24 overs in the match and took five wickets. No other Pakistan bowler took more than three.