England v Pakistan: Root survives a no-ball let-off as England close on a 3-0 sweep at Edgbaston

By Jack Shaw · Edgbaston, Birmingham · Published: 13:15 BST

• Mohammad Abbas removed Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay in the first over of day four to leave England 2 for 2 chasing 130.
• Joe Root was bowled for 23 by Mohammed Ali with England 35-2 — only for the delivery to be called a no-ball.
• Root and Cox then added an unbroken 121 for the third wicket. At 13.04 BST England were 123-2, seven runs from a 3-0 series sweep.

England v Pakistan at Edgbaston turned from a formality into a fourth-morning fright and back again inside two hours. Set 130 to complete a 3-0 whitewash, England lost both openers in Mohammad Abbas’s opening over, survived the loss of their captain only because of a no-ball, and were then carried to the brink of the line by Joe Root and Cox.

England v Pakistan: how day four unravelled, then settled

The target existed at all because of Razaullah. The 21-year-old debutant, who had already taken four wickets in England’s first innings, struck 81 off 63 balls at No 9 on Friday evening — nine sixes, equalling Tim Southee‘s record for a Test debutant — in a 121-run ninth-wicket stand with Abbas, who made a career-best 42. Pakistan, dismissed for 133 in the first innings against England’s 453, recovered to 449 (Masood 95, Razaullah 81, Babar 76, Awais 59) and a lead of 129. For the full ball-by-ball timeline of the series, follow the rolling coverage at ReadCricket.

Abbas, 36 and rediscovered, then produced the over of the match: Duckett and Gay both gone, England two runs into their chase and two down. Root was bowled for 23 by Mohammed Ali at 35-2 — the celebrations cut off mid-flight when the front foot was checked. From there he and Cox, who took the gloves after Smith injured a finger, refused Pakistan a third opening.

The expert angle: the margin between a sweep and a scandal was a front foot

England will finish this series 3-0 up and it will still have been the most uncomfortable week of Joe Root’s second spell as captain. A side that had Pakistan eight down and 30 ahead on day three let a debutant and a No 10 bat them into a fourth day — then needed a no-ball to keep its captain at the crease in a chase of 130.

Alastair Cook did not soften it on Test Match Special: England had “no plan” against Razaullah and it “got out of control”. “That’s when you need the backroom staff and coaches to step up,” he said. “I would have loved to have seen a message and some real leadership from the coaches.” Interim coach Marcus Trescothick called it a “perfect storm” and pushed the credit Pakistan’s way: “You’ve got to give a bit more credit to them.”

Both can be true. But the structural question is the one the Guardian’s Andy Bull put on Friday — England’s all-pace attack, chosen since Ben Stokes‘s mid-summer retirement, had no answer once the ball stopped swinging and a 21-year-old started swinging instead. On this evidence it is the selection, not the captain, that needs fixing before the winter.

Wrap-up

A 3-0 scoreline will bury all of it within a week. Should it? Or does a fourth morning that started 2 for 2 tell England something they will regret ignoring? For how the target came to exist in the first place, read Razaullah’s nine sixes leave England needing 130 at Edgbaston.