Joe Root became the second England captain after Ben Stokes to lead the Three Lions to a clean sweep in a three-match Test series after home side won the third and final game in Birmingham by eight wickets on Saturday. England had already won the series earlier, after wins in Leeds and Lord’s.
The last and only time England clean-swept Pakistan in a three-match Test series was in 2022-23, when the -led side won all the games away from home. This was also Root’s first series after being re-appointed as the captain of the Test side following Stokes’ retirement earlier this year.
Pakistan came into the amid chaos. Following their Lord’s defeat, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) axed seven players and two coaches ahead of the third Test. With three debutants, Pakistan gave a good fight in the second innings, but it was too late for the Babar Azam-led side.
Chasing 130 on the fourth day, England needed only 24.2 overs to chase down the target of 130 with eight wickets in hand. Root remained unbeaten on 62 while Jordan Cox scored 59. Pakistan, after being bowled out for 133 in the first innings, fought back with 449 in the second.
Shan Masood scored 95, Babar Azam 76 and debutant Razaullah 81, while Razaullah and Mohammad Abbas (42) added 121 runs for the ninth wicket. England had earlier posted 453, taking a 320-run first-innings lead. Harry Brook (75), Jamie Smith (69), Dan Lawrence (65), Emilio Gay (60) and Ollie Robinson (50) were among the key contributors.
In the process, Root surpassed legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most fifties in Tests. With his unbeaten half-century, Root took his Test fifties tally to 69, moving past Tendulkar’s 68. West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul is next in line with 66 fifties, followed by Australian Allan Border and India Rahul Dravid, who have 63 each.
Root also became the first batter to score more than 1,000 Test runs at Edgbaston. The venue is now the fourth where the right-hander crossed the 1,000-run mark, after Lord’s, Manchester and The Oval. He is only the third player after former South Africa’s Jacques Kallis and Australian great Ricky Ponting to score more than 1,000 Test runs at four different venues.
More to follow.
