Captain Babar Azam had wanted to keep away the “outside noise” that had left Pakistan cricket in deeper turmoil last week. But the sorry tale with the bat continued on Wednesday. On a placid Edgbaston track, the visitors imploded, suffering a historic collapse that lasted just 33.5 overs, or less than two sessions, on Day 1 of the third and final Test against England.
Pakistan have yet to score 200 in a single innings in this series. Their 133 all out on Wednesday joined previous forgettable totals of 171, 135, 110 and 194, as England’s seamers fully vindicated Joe Root’s decision to bowl first.
Four wickets fell inside the first hour, and by lunch Pakistan were seven down. Former England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan summed up the morning on Sky Sports commentary: “Pakistan go from bad to worse.”
“A desperate morning for Pakistan — seven down on a blameless pitch,” Mike Atherton added. “That said, a good morning for England’s seam attack, albeit with Atkinson’s struggles continuing.”
Pakistan lost their top five for just 48 runs in 15 overs, with all five recording single-digit scores, including captain Babar, who made 7 off 18. Once again, they had few answers to Ollie Robinson (3/15) and Jofra Archer (3/25), with the new-ball pair making the most of the helpful, overcast conditions.
The unwanted collapse also created Test history in England, with all of Pakistan’s top five being dismissed for single figures. It was the first time such a collapse had occurred in the first innings of a Test in England.
Eight Pakistan batters in all scored in single figures. Only Saud Shakeel, fresh from his 97 at Lord’s, offered resistance among the specialist batters, making 43 before tailender Mohammad Abbas was the last man out for 21.
Pakistan’s 33.5-over innings at Edgbaston was their third-shortest against England in Tests, after 29 overs (80 all out) at Nottingham and 33 overs (74 all out) at Lord’s in 2010.
Pakistan had already lost the opening two Tests of the series before the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) plunged the team into further turmoil. Seven players and two coaches, including head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed, were sent back home after the second Test, in a decision neither the captain nor the team management were reportedly aware of until the PCB’s press statement was released last week.
The PCB then issued a show-cause notice to the selection committee, shortly after which former captain Misbah-ul-Haq resigned from the committee. The board later announced on Monday that it was holding a disciplinary inquiry into behaviour “following media reports concerning discipline and conduct, which are currently being reviewed internally.”