Test cricket rarely follows a script, but the final match at Edgbaston tried its absolute best to deliver pure chaos. England wrapped up a 3-0 series sweep against Pakistan, but the scoreline hides just how close Joe Root's side came to a stunning fourth-day collapse.
If you tuned in expecting a straightforward coronation on Saturday morning, you got quite a shock. Chasing a modest 130 runs, England found themselves stumbling at 2 for 2 before the first over was even finished. Mohammad Abbas shredded the top order instantly, sending back Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay for ducks and injecting sudden, terrifying life into a Pakistan team that looked dead and buried two days prior.
The Chaos Behind Pakistan's Edgbaston Fightback
You cannot understand this third Test without looking at the absolute meltdown happening behind the scenes for the tourists. Following a brutal defeat at Lord's, the Pakistan Cricket Board panicked. They sent seven players home, axed head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed alongside his assistant Umar Gul, and rolled out a completely restructured squad featuring three debutants at Edgbaston.
It looked like a disaster early on. Pakistan folded for a miserable 133 in their first innings, managing barely 33 overs against a hostile English pace attack led by Ollie Robinson and Jofra Archer. When England replied with 453—powered by half-centuries from Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Dan Lawrence, Emilio Gay, and Robinson himself—the match felt completely done. Pakistan trailed by 320 runs and looked ready for another innings defeat.
Then came Friday evening, and with it, a massive momentum shift.
Enter Razaullah and the Lower-Order Resistance
Test debutant Razaullah decided he didn't care about the crisis, the team changes, or the English seamers. Walking in at number nine, the 21-year-old launched an astonishing counter-attack. He hammered 81 runs off just 63 balls, smashing nine sixes and four fours.
Partnered by Mohammad Abbas, who chipped in with a gritty 42, Razaullah put on 121 runs for the ninth wicket. Pakistan's second-innings total swelled to 449, thanks also to a captain's knock of 95 from Shan Masood and 76 from Babar Azam. Suddenly, England weren't just batting for a victory; they were facing a target that required actual application on a wearing pitch.
Root and Cox Steady the Ship
When Abbas trapped Duckett with the very first ball of Saturday's chase and clipped Gay right after, Edgbaston erupted. The ghosts of past collapses started whispering.
Joe Root walked out under immense pressure. He immediately edged his first delivery through the slips for four, looking far from secure. Lady Luck decided to wear an England sweater that morning. Root survived a massive scare on 23 when Mohammad Ali clean bowled him, only for the umpire's siren to signal a no-ball—Ali's seventeenth of the series.
Later, on 38, Root edged Abbas straight between first and second slip, but both fielders stood frozen, assuming the other would take it. Root made them pay dearly for those lapses.
Teaming up with Jordan Cox—who played an ice-cool, unbeaten 59 while also pulling double duty as wicketkeeper after Jamie Smith fractured a finger—Root anchored the innings. The former captain finished unbeaten on 62, steering England across the line at 130 for 2 in the 25th over.
What This Series Win Really Means for England
A 3-0 sweep looks dominant on paper, but let's be honest about the reality of England's summer. This series finished without a single individual century scored by an English batter across all three matches—only the second time that has happened in a home series since 1888.
The fast bowling unit did the heavy lifting. Ollie Robinson claimed 21 wickets, earning player of the series honors by exploiting helpful home surfaces. Yet, questions remain about the long-term stability of the batting lineup as the team transitions away from the Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes era. Root's return to the captaincy brought immediate results, ditching strict midnight curfews and loosening up the team culture, but tougher examinations loom.
England heads to South Africa in December for a much sterner Test assignment, where pitches won't offer the same margin for error. If they repeat these top-order stumbles against a sharper pace attack, a recovery won't come quite as easily.
