Razaullah's Record-Equalling Blitz Ignites Edgbaston
Edgbaston finally found its voice. On a tour that has lurched from poor to pitiful for Pakistan, a 21-year-old debutant walked out at number nine and turned a dead rubber into a live contest.
By the close, England needed 130 to win the Third Rothesay Test. They should still finish the job and complete a 3-0 sweep. But they will do so with fresh bruises and a few awkward questions, all inflicted by a young quick who treated their attack like a net session.
Razaullah rips up the script
Pakistan were 318-8, still two runs behind, the game drifting towards an early finish and a forgettable scoreline. Then Razaullah arrived and ripped the day apart.
His 81 from 63 balls was not a cameo. It was a full-blown assault. Nine times he cleared the rope, equalling Ben Stokes’ record for the most sixes in a Test innings in England and matching Tim Southee’s mark for a Test debutant. England’s bowlers, so dominant all series, suddenly looked powerless.
The partnership with Muhammad Abbas changed everything. Together they added 121 for the eighth wicket, Abbas chipping in with 42 that included two sixes of his own and some audacious reverse-sweeps off Dan Lawrence. Pakistan, who had been 0-2 in their second innings and humiliated for 133 on day one, were suddenly swaggering.
Atkinson disappeared into the building site beyond the stands, three times in one over. Jofra Archer was driven straight back over his head for successive sixes. Fields scattered, plans frayed. Edgbaston roared.
As the light dimmed, it looked as though the pair might bat through to the close. Abbas finally miscued Josh Tongue to point, and in a frantic finale Razaullah thumped Lawrence for his record-equalling ninth six, survived an lbw on review, then charged and was stumped. He left to a rapturous ovation, a new cult hero for Pakistan cricket after a single, wild evening.
From the wreckage of 133 all out, Pakistan had posted 449. England’s lead, once towering, had been cut to 129. A procession had become a chase.
Pakistan finally show their steel
For two days this series felt like a mismatch. On Friday, Pakistan finally looked like a Test side.
From 55-2 overnight and 268 runs in arrears, they refused to fold. Shan Masood and Azan Awais extended their third-wicket stand to 125, batting with a calm that had been missing all tour. Awais, just 21, drove fluently through the off side before glancing Lawrence down the leg side for 59.
Masood, in what is likely his final Test in the country where he went to school, was composed and controlled. He moved to 95 and seemed destined for a cathartic hundred until Gus Atkinson drew a slash and Lawrence, at gully, flung out one hand to pull off a stunning catch.
Masood’s dismissal might have broken a more fragile side. Instead, Babar Azam took the baton and unfurled a measured 76, all timing and class. When England turned to the short ball either side of tea, the captain’s rhythm faltered. Tongue finally forced the mistake with a bouncer, Babar falling in the first of four wickets to tumble for 40 runs.
At that point, a three-day finish looked nailed on. Pakistan had finally shown resistance, but the script still pointed one way.
Razaullah tore it up.
‘Razball’ and an Edgbaston reborn
This was Pakistan’s first score above 200 and their first innings lasting more than 51 overs in the series. It came with an edge and a defiance that had been missing, and it arrived on a day when Edgbaston, so flat earlier in the match, came alive.
The Hollies Stand drove the noise. Every Razaullah swing, every Abbas reverse-sweep, every miscued bouncer drew a roar. A Test that had looked like a formality suddenly had a pulse.
Until the late carnage, England’s bowlers had not been poor. Tongue’s 4-42 in the first innings had set the tone for the match, and for most of Friday the home attack held their length when the ball moved and shifted smartly to a short-ball plan when conditions demanded. They caught well. They stuck to their fields. They were simply met by a Pakistan top order playing with patience and clarity for the first time on tour.
Once Razaullah and Abbas came together, that discipline evaporated. The plan narrowed to bouncers, the field scattered to the fence, and when England did try to attack the stumps, they either missed or found Pakistan’s defence suddenly rock solid.
Root’s new regime tested at last
This series has largely flattered England’s new leadership. Joe Root’s captaincy, so often dissected in his first spell in the job, has barely been tested by a Pakistan side in disarray.
On Friday evening, the scrutiny returned.
The most puzzling call came with the second new ball. Ollie Robinson, in the form of his life and fresh from a 50 with the bat, watched as Root tossed the ball to Lawrence. It was a curious decision, and it backfired. Lawrence, who had chipped in with useful off-spin and key wickets earlier, suddenly became target practice.
Archer’s frustration was visible as Razaullah launched him again and again. Root briefly left the field. By the end, Atkinson was banging in bouncers with eight men on the rope, a scene more reminiscent of a T20 slog than a Test closing in on its third day.
The late wickets – Abbas to Tongue, Razaullah stumped – brought huge relief. England walked off chastened, their advantage intact but their aura dented.
A chase with a twist
England’s first-innings 453, built on a spread of contributions from Harry Brook (75), Jamie Smith (69), Lawrence (65), Emilio Gay (60) and Robinson (50), should still prove the foundation of victory. Pakistan’s 133 on day one, with Tongue’s 4-42 ripping through them, remains the defining collapse of the match.
Yet as the third day closed, that felt like old news. What mattered was the number on the board: 130 to win.
On a surface that has offered enough to keep bowlers interested and a Pakistan side suddenly emboldened by their late surge, that target carries just a hint of jeopardy. England remain overwhelming favourites. Pakistan, though, finally have something to defend and a reason to snarl.
Saturday will decide whether Razaullah’s explosion was a glorious footnote to a 3-0 whitewash, or the spark that turned a procession into a contest.
