Clinical England power to series win over Pakistan

Second Rothesay Test, Lord's (day four of five)England 290 (Smith 61, Cox 55; Abbas 4-73) & 208 (Lawrence 54; Abbas 5-57)Pakistan 110 (Awais 46; Robinson 4-11) & 194 (Shakeel 97, Robinson 4-24)England won by 194 runs, lead three-match series 2-0ScorecardEngland once again steamrollered Pakistan to power to a series win on the fourth day of the second Test at Lord's.Despite being delayed by a defiant 97 by Saud Shakeel, England dismissed the tourists to win by 194 runs.Ollie Robinson continued his sensational comeback summer, claiming 4-24 on Sunday for match figures of 8-35.He expertly exploited the lavish movement on offer to conclude a similarly one-sided contest to England's innings win in the first Test at Headingley last week.It means Joe Root has won the first two Tests of his second reign as captain, winning this series with a match to spare, in the process earning England's first series triumph since 2024.Pakistan were set a Lord's record 389 to win, but a more realistic target was to drag the match into a fifth day – their previous highest total in the series was 171.And when Robinson took two wickets in his third over to help reduce Pakistan to 14-3 it became apparent the Test would be completed inside four days – less than three days of cricket given the time lost to the weather.Shakeel ensured the visitors were not routed, only for Robinson to return to remove Shan Masood and Muhammad Rizwan in successive overs.When Shakeel holed out off Josh Tongue, any lingering doubts that England would not beat the fading light disappeared as Pakistan subsided to 194 all out.The third and final Test of the series begins at Edgbaston on Wednesday, 9 September.This Test may be remembered more for what happened off the field than anything that took place on it.The build-up was dominated by the Brydon Carse controversy, then on the first day the Pakistan Cricket Board threatened to abandon the match and the rest of the tour over an interview broadcast by Sky with the sons of former captain and Prime Minister Imran Khan.The action itself was almost a carbon copy of Headingley: Robinson continued his stellar return to Test cricket as leader of an England attack thrown together in the aftermath of Ben Stokes' retirement and showing huge signs of promise for the future.In England's top six, Jordan Cox and Dan Lawrence again made half-centuries to hint they are worth persevering with, while opener Emilio Gay still needs a score to cement his place.Bar some occasional uneven bounce, the Lord's pitch was much improved on the surface on which England beat New Zealand in June. The exaggerated assistance on offer to the seamers throughout was as much to do with the wet weather as the pitch.In such conditions, Pakistan are always likely to struggle, just as England are often second-best against the turning ball when they go away from home.Still, in these first two Tests, England have been as good as Pakistan have been poor. Surely a 3-0 clean sweep will be secured at Edgbaston.This was the day Pakistan lost the series yet, bizarrely, it may also have been their best performance thanks to the efforts of Muhammad Abbas and Shakeel.The skilful Abbas had narrowly missed out on the Lord's honours board on three previous occasions and the 36-year-old made no mistake after England resumed on 177-7. Lawrence was bowled by a nip-backer and Robinson edged behind to give Abbas 5-57, which he celebrated with a point to the sky.Three wickets down inside 7.1 overs and with Imam-ul-Haq absent injured, Pakistan could have been humiliated had it not been for Shakeel.First in the partnership of 97 with Masood, Shakeel showed the patience and technique to resist the England attack. The left-hander was brave, too, coming through blows to the helmet from Archer and Tongue.When Tongue went to a sustained bouncer plan, Shakeel swiped successive sixes, then a pull for four to move to 96. In the same over, he tried another pull that dropped looped between two England fielders on the off side.The plan did not change for Tongue's next over. Shakeel set himself for the blow that would have brought up his century, only to find Harry Brook on the long leg boundary.Tongue ended with 3-46, Archer 2-73. In four innings in this series, Pakistan have not reached 200.