The first ball of the series was a nip-backer from around the wicket, and Azan Awais was leg before with barely a stroke completed. Ollie Robinson had a Test wicket with his opening delivery, and England v Pakistan day one at Headingley never recovered its balance from there. By the close the tourists had been dismissed for 171 and England were 112 for 2, just 59 behind, with Joe Root unbeaten on 37 in the first innings of his second spell as captain.
It was, the Guardian noted, the first time a Test series in England has begun with a wicket. On a day when a side who have won two of their last ten Tests needed something to hold on to, it was also about as complete a vindication of a captain’s first decision as cricket allows.
England v Pakistan day one belonged to Robinson and Tongue
Root won the toss and bowled, pointing to the overhead conditions and “a bit of top moisture” in the pitch, ESPNcricinfo reported. England went in with four specialist seamers – Robinson, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue – and Dan Lawrence and Root himself as the only spin options. The surface was slower than Headingley pitches of recent vintage but offered sideways movement to anyone disciplined enough to find the length.
Robinson is built for that. He finished with 5-51, the fifth five-wicket haul of his Test career, and had Shan Masood lbw with his first ball from around the wicket in his third over. Tongue took longer to warm up but ended with 5-46, his fourth, closing the innings with a devastating burst of 4-5 in 11 balls, BBC Sport reported. Salman Agha and Ali Usman went with successive deliveries; Khurram Shahzad denied the hat-trick by clubbing the next through the off side. The Headingley groundsman later split the match ball in two so the pair could share it.
Pakistan’s oldest habit, repeated
For a session and a half the tourists looked capable of a competitive total. Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq put together a stand of 91, the pair driving down the ground with growing freedom after a downpour just short of an hour into the day forced an early lunch and a delay of nearly two hours. Shafique made 61, Imam 42. Then the innings did what Pakistan innings have been doing for some time: the last eight wickets fell for 74, and the whole thing was over inside 48.1 overs.
It made for a bruising first day in charge for Salman Agha, leading the Test side for the first time in place of the injured Babar Azam. Pakistan have not won a Test series in England since 1996 and have lost 13 of their last 18 Tests; nothing at Headingley on Wednesday suggested the pattern is about to break.
A reply that steadied, then settled
England’s own top order did not escape unmarked. Ben Duckett fell to Mohammad Abbas, still the most searching bowler in these conditions, and Emilio Gay was removed for 33 by Mohammad Ali, leaving the hosts 48 for 2 and the day briefly in the balance again. What followed was familiar to anyone who has watched England for a decade: Root walked in and the noise stopped.
He was joined by Jordan Cox, handed the No 3 berth in place of the injured Jacob Bethell, and the pair added 64 without further loss, Cox reaching stumps on 23. Root, playing his 167th Test and captaining for the 66th time, ended the day 37 not out and 59 runs from parity.
None of which decides a Test match. But this was the first day of the Root and Marcus Trescothick arrangement, an interim coaching set-up that will hand over to Stephen Fleming once the series is done, and it could hardly have gone better. The reset we previewed in our guide to the first Test at Headingley promised small adjustments rather than revolution. On the evidence of day one, the small adjustments will do.
