England clinch third Test by eight wickets to complete series whitewash

Joe Root guided England to a 3-0 series whitewash over Pakistan with an unbeaten 62 as the hosts overcame early tremors to win the third Test by eight wickets at Edgbaston.

England resumed their chase of 130 on Saturday and suffered an early setback when Pakistan pacer Mohammad Abbas struck twice. He dismissed Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay for ducks, briefly raising Pakistan’s hopes of an unlikely comeback.

However, Jordan Cox and Joe Root steadied the innings and took England to victory. Root remained unbeaten on 62, while Cox scored 59. It was Root’s 110th Test innings of 50 or more, a tally that includes 41 centuries.

Earlier, England had taken a commanding position after bowling Pakistan out for 133 in their first innings. The hosts responded with 453, securing a massive 320-run first-innings lead.

Pakistan produced a much stronger response in their second innings, scoring 449. Shan Masood led the fightback with 95, while Razaullah struck a valuable 81, including nine sixes and four boundaries. Pakistan’s recovery also featured contributions from Azan Awais, who scored 59, and Babar Azam, who made 76.

Despite the panic caused by exciting Pakistan debutant Razaullah, whose thrilling 81 off 63 balls electrified Edgbaston on Friday evening, the result marked a satisfying return to the captaincy for Root following Ben Stokes’ retirement from international cricket.

Had Pakistan shown the same fight in the first two Tests, the series could have been far more competitive. Instead, England’s dominance made it a largely one-sided contest.

For England, Josh Tongue was the standout bowler in Pakistan’s first innings, taking 4-42, while Ollie Robinson claimed 3-15. In Pakistan’s second innings, Gus Atkinson took 3-109.

England eventually completed the chase with eight wickets in hand, wrapping up the third Test and securing a 3-0 series whitewash.

For Pakistan, who have now lost 16 of their last 21 Tests, it was another difficult chapter in a chaotic tour, which was capped by the decision to replace seven players in the squad after the second Test and sack coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and his assistant Umar Gul.

At least, however, the ‘Raz-ball’ fightback in Birmingham showed there was still a pulse in the Pakistan side ahead of their next assignment against Sri Lanka in October.