England’s four-man seam attack once again demonstrated its collective threat in bundling Pakistan out for 133 at Edgbaston. Josh Tongue highlighted the work the quartet have done together beyond matchdays by experimenting with a wobble seam delivery that he has honed with assistance from Ollie Robinson – work that brought immediate reward.
“I’ve spoken to Robbo quite a bit about it,” said Tongue, who took four wickets, with the other six equally shared between Robinson and Jofra Archer. “Obviously he’s unbelievable at that and he’s showed that throughout the series. So I’ve been speaking to him quite a bit during the last couple of Tests and I tried a couple of things in training the other day. That was the first time I’d bowled it in the game and it got me a wicket, so I’ll be using it again. I want to get more skills under my belt.”
England ended the day 23 runs ahead, with six first-innings wickets in hand, but both sides still insisted the game is in the balance. “That first hour tomorrow morning is going to be very crucial,” Tongue said. “We’ve just got to get through that first bit.”
Meanwhile Saud Shakeel, who top-scored for Pakistan with 43, said: “Early on, when we lost the toss, the pitch had some moisture in it and the overcast conditions helped their bowlers as well. We got some soft dismissals and we couldn’t come back from that. But we started well with our bowling and if we can get them out quickly there’s a good chance we can get back in the game.”
It was the fifth time Pakistan have batted in this series and the fifth time they have been dismissed for a total below 200; England have not yet been bowled out for less than that figure and are 156 for four here.
“We’re working hard, it’s not like we aren’t trying,” Shakeel said. “There’s a lot of lateral movement and we’re not used to facing that, but we are trying our best. I’m not saying our batting group has not struggled, we have accepted that. But the conditions have been difficult. Bowlers have been on top.”
One ray of light for the tourists was the impact of the 21-year-old fast bowler Razaullah, playing just his ninth first-class game, who bowled with real menace and claimed the wickets of Emilio Gay, one of two English half-centurions alongside the unbeaten Harry Brook, and Joe Root.
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“I’ve just faced him one time in a domestic first-class game, so I haven’t seen him that much,” Shakeel said. “But he has some raw pace and a difficult action and we’re hoping he will continue bowling like this. With express fast bowlers, even if they haven’t played a lot of first-class cricket, it doesn’t matter. Their raw talent and pace is useful, which we saw from him today.”