England Complete 3-0 Whitewash of Pakistan With Eight-Wicket Win at Edgbaston
England have completed a 3-0 series whitewash of Pakistan, winning the third Test at Edgbaston by eight wickets inside four days to seal their first series victory since the tour of New Zealand in 2024.
Chasing a modest target, England reached 130 for two to finish a summer that began under one regime and ended under another.
Pakistan's Late Fight
The match followed a familiar pattern before an unexpected twist. Pakistan were bowled out for 133 on the opening day in just 33.5 overs, Josh Tongue taking four for 42 with Ollie Robinson and Jofra Archer claiming three apiece.
England replied with 453, built around Harry Brook's 75, Jamie Smith's 69, Dan Lawrence's 65 and a half-century from Robinson off 47 balls. Archer finished unbeaten on 32. The innings included 45 extras, with Pakistan conceding 18 byes and 12 no-balls. Razaullah took four for 148 on debut.
That left a first-innings lead of 320, and a fourth-day finish looked certain. Pakistan then produced their best batting of the series, reaching 449 second time around. Razaullah and Mohammad Abbas added 121 for the ninth wicket, an unlikely partnership that briefly made the tourists competitive and delayed Saim Ayub's departure for Caribbean Premier League duty by a day.
It was not enough. England knocked off the runs to complete the sweep.
Lawrence was named player of the match. "Wasn't the ideal start, Abbas doing what he usually does and put the ball in the right area," he said. "Thankfully we had the experience of Joe and a bit of class from Coxy to get us over the line. Been a great start."
A Series Defined by Collapse
Pakistan failed to reach 200 in five of their six innings across the three Tests. They lost the opener at Headingley by an innings and 103 runs and the second at Lord's by 194 runs, with Robinson taking the player of the match award in both.
The result is Pakistan's sixth whitewash in their last 12 series, and their overall Test win-loss ratio has now fallen below 1.00 for the first time in almost 40 years.
The tour also brought considerable upheaval. After the defeat at Lord's, the Pakistan Cricket Board released seven players and dismissed head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul. Mike Hesson, who had been running the white-ball side, took interim charge for Edgbaston, where three debutants were handed caps. The board separately confirmed an investigation into player conduct during the tour.
Hesson has since indicated he would be open to taking the Test job permanently, having been given interim control for a single match.
England Move On
For England the summer represents a recovery. They had lost at home to New Zealand earlier in the season before the change that returned Joe Root to the captaincy, with Marcus Trescothick as interim head coach.
Jordan Cox emerged from the series with credit at No. 3, and England took maximum World Test Championship points from all three matches while Pakistan collected none.
England's white-ball series against Sri Lanka begins on Tuesday.
