England were denied a series sweep of Pakistan inside three days of the final Test at Edgbaston after a remarkable display of six-hitting from 21-year-old Razaullah late on Friday.
Pakistan enjoyed easily their finest day of what’s otherwise been a dismal series but were still trailing by two when their eighth wicket fell early into the evening session, only for Razaullah to smash 81 off just 63 deliveries, clearing the ropes a staggering nine times to equal Tim Southee’s record for a debutant.
He shared in a 121-run partnership with Mohammad Abbas (42), who himself hit two sixes before picking out point off Josh Tongue in the closing overs, while Razaullah’s fun was finally ended – and the day’s play – as he was stumped off Dan Lawrence (2-17).
England, guilty of losing the plot in the final session, will now look to chase down 130 on day four, a far stiffer target than initially looked likely, albeit one they should still reel in to clinch a first ever home series whitewash of Pakistan.
The tourists might be cursing not testing England further, with Shan Masood (95) and Babar Azam (76) both spurning golden opportunities to score the first century of the series.
While Masood can count himself a touch unfortunate, out to a screamer of a catch by Lawrence – one-handed, diving low to his right in the slips – Babar’s dismissal was much more of a head-scratcher, the captain walking straight into an obvious short-ball trap set by England on the stroke of tea.
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Dan Lawrence produced a stunning catch at slip off Gus Atkinson to dismiss Shan Masood for 95, denying the Pakistan batter a century at Edgbaston.
That wicket had seemed to signal the end of the Pakistan resistance, with four wickets falling for 40 runs before Razaullah very much had other plans and pushed things into a fourth day with some almighty swings of the bat.
Resuming the third morning on 52-2, Pakistan had been watchful to start, with only 15 runs added from a rather sedate opening 7.2 overs, before they suddenly sparked into life and smashed 117 off the next 20 – the wicket of Azan Awais (59) to a feathered edge down leg off Lawrence the only blot on their morning’s work.
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Dan Lawrence claimed England’s first wicket of day three as Azan Awais fell for 59 following a successful Joe Root review and sharp catch from Jordan Cox.
England’s four-pronged pace attack hadn’t experienced such a session of toil this series without reward, but were improved after the lunch interval, with Gus Atkinson’s initial eight-over burst particularly impressive as he finally secured his second wicket of the series, Masood undone by Lawrence’s brilliance in the slips.
Babar was Pakistan’s next bright hope for a hundred, what would have been his first in Test cricket for almost four years, but England turned to Jofra Archer and Tongue for a bit of bouncer theory and Babar simply couldn’t resist taking it on despite repeated warnings.
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Jordan Cox takes a superb catch to dismiss Babar Azam in Edgbaston.
It was Tongue (2-106) who finally got his man, Babar gloving one behind, while Archer (1-120) accounted for Saud Shakeel (29) soon after the tea break with another brute of a short ball that he could only balloon to short-leg.
A couple of terrific catches from Jordan Cox behind the stumps then accounted for debutants Ghazi Ghori (16) and Mohammad Imran (4) as Atkinson (3-109) located their inside and outside edges, respectively.
But Pakistan’s third debutant, Razaullah, having already impressed with the ball – claiming four first-innings wickets, including that of England’s leading Test run-scorer Joe Root in his first over – put on yet another show with an extraordinary display of ball-striking to not only see his side into a lead, but a 129-run advantage at that.
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