England were 36 for 3 inside the opening hour at Lord’s, the floodlights burning and Mohammad Abbas moving the ball back into the stumps at will. By the close of a truncated day one of the England v Pakistan second Test they had reached 248 for 9, a total that felt closer to a rescue than a disappointment.
Jamie Smith made 61 and Jordan Cox 55, and neither innings looked much like the England batting of the past four years. On a slow, nibbling surface under heavy cloud, restraint was the winning method, and two right-handers still fixing their places in the order were the men who found it.
Abbas and Ali drag Pakistan back into the England v Pakistan second Test
Abbas finished with 4-56 and Mohammad Ali 3-67, figures ESPNcricinfo reported as the foundation of a considerably improved Pakistan bowling display. Abbas removed Emilio Gay, Ben Duckett and Joe Root to leave England 36 for 3; Ali later accounted for Harry Brook, Smith and Ollie Robinson.
Mohammad Rizwan set the tone in the fifth over, flinging himself full length down the leg side to catch Gay. Ten balls afterwards Abbas claimed his 900th first-class wicket when Babar Azam reviewed a not-out lbw decision against Duckett and ball-tracking showed the delivery hitting the top of off stump.
Pakistan chose to bowl after a rain-delayed toss and were vindicated inside half an hour. Their display bore little resemblance to the one at Headingley a week earlier, with Abbas finding a length the Dukes ball rewarded and Ali shaping the nip-backer that removed three of England’s better players.
Smith and Cox play the percentages
At 77 for 4 the innings was drifting. Cox, batting at No. 3 in only his third Test, occupied the crease for 217 minutes and added 67 for the sixth wicket with Smith, whose half-century was the most fluent batting of the day. Cox eventually fell to a full-length slip catch from Salman Agha, and Gus Atkinson’s unbeaten 34 pushed England past 240 before bad light ended play with Pakistan one wicket short.
Neither man forced the pace. Cox punished the loose ball and left almost everything else, an approach that has become rare in this batting order, while Smith’s strokeplay was controlled rather than expansive. In a line-up still settling after a summer of upheaval, both innings read as auditions passed.
The tourists will regret three dropped catches, a lapse BBC Sport noted alongside their much sharper bowling. Rain had already pushed the start back by 80 minutes, and only 56 overs were possible.
What 248 for 9 means for the series
England lead the three-match series 1-0 after winning the first Test at Headingley by an innings and 103 runs inside three days. Babar returned as captain at Lord’s after the hand injury that ruled him out in Leeds, with Salman Agha making way; England named an unchanged side.
Rain is forecast for the next three days, which sharpens the value of every run already banked. BBC Sport framed the match as England’s chance to win a first Test series since 2024, an outcome that would close a week otherwise consumed by the Brydon Carse investigation.
Cox, who was handed the No. 3 role for this series, has now made scores of substance in consecutive Tests. Play resumes on Friday 28 August with England nine down and Pakistan yet to bat.
