(ESPNCRICINFO) – Ollie Robinson put in another stellar performance as England won the second Test for an unassailable 2-0 lead in their three-match series with Pakistan at Lord’s.
obinson had been the chief destroyer of Pakistan’s first innings, well supported by Jofra Archer, and that was the case once more as England won by 194 runs with a day to spare, their first Test series victory since late 2024 in New Zealand.
Robinson took 4 for 24 to cap staggering match figures of 8 for 35 in 27 overs, while Archer claimed five across both innings. For Pakistan, Saud Shakeel staged a fighting 97 and Mohammad Abbas received the consolation of writing his name on the Lord’s honours board with a five-for.
Ultimately Pakistan didn’t do enough on the second day. After a good start with the ball – they had England 36 for 3 and 77 for 4 day one – and improved performance in the field, they let last-wicket pair Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson take their side above par at 290 then collapsed in the face of a seam onslaught by Robinson and Archer.
The England bowling duo again did the damage in the fourth innings as Pakistan never threatened the target of 389, lurching to 14 for 3 as Azan Awais, Abdullah Shafique and Babar Azam succumbed to them early. Once Tongue had accounted for Shakeel, he cleaned up the Pakistan tail in his familiar fashion.
Shakeel however resisted, reaching a half-century in just 54 balls with a strong drive off Atkinson through long-off for four. This came amid a rare toothless phase for England’s bowlers after the lunch break, in which Atkinson conceded 24 runs off his four overs before he was replaced by the offspin of Dan Lawrence.
Shakeel shared a 97-run stand for the fourth wicket with fellow left-hander Shan Masood either side of a 40-minute rain delay, after which Robinson returned to the attack and broke them up. Masood walked across his stumps and was struck on the pad in line, although it took an England review to seal his dismissal.
Robinson had his fourth for the innings and eighth wicket of the match a short time later with a nip-backer to Mohammad Rizwan, who attempted a slog-sweep then failed to overturn his lbw decision on umpire’s call.
Shakeel unfurled some excellent strokes amid his 13 fours and two sixes, more than once negating short balls from Archer to good effect and steering a fuller one wide of point. He was struck a nasty blow to the grille of his helmet from a Tongue bouncer, but went to tea unscathed and unbeaten on 78 with Pakistan 140 for 5, still needing 249 runs.
After the break, Archer followed a couple of short balls to Ali Usman by seaming one in from a length and catching the inside-edge onto the stumps.
Shakeel took on a short-ball barrage from Tongue on with twin sixes and a four through the square leg region to move within one more boundary of his century but he fell agonisingly short when he holed out to deep square leg off another Tongue short ball.
Tongue picked up another, Khurram Shahzad bowled by a slower ball, then greeted Mohammad Ali – Pakistan’s last batter with Imam-ul-Haq injured – with a 91mph bouncer, followed by another short ball before he was collected by Harry Brook at second slip.
Earlier, Abbas claimed an elusive five-wicket haul at Lord’s, ending with nine wickets for the match, including 5 for 57 from 22 overs in England’s second innings.
