Robinson, Tongue five-fors hand England opening-day honours

Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue became the first England pace pair to take five-fors in the same innings against Pakistan—England's first such instance since 1998—as the hosts bowled their opponents out for 171 on the opening day of Joe Root's second full-time stint as Test captain.

This followed Pakistan's recovery from 6 for 2 through a 91-run third-wicket stand between Abdullah Shafique (61) and Imam-ul-Haq (42), but the visitors lost their last eight wickets for only 74 runs. England reduced the deficit to 59 runs at Stumps, ending Day 1 of the first Test at Headingley at 112 for 2, with Root (37) and Jordan Cox (23) having added 64.

Root opted to bowl, citing overhead conditions, and the move paid immediate dividends as Robinson struck off the first ball of the Test, trapping Azan Awais in front with a delivery that nipped back in, with the opener also costing his team a review. Jofra Archer began with two successive maidens at the other end, while England also lost a review when Robinson pinged Imam-ul-Haq on the pad. Robinson, however, tasted success soon after as Shan Masood was out lbw, with the bowler having switched to over the wicket.

Shafique played a couple of attractive drives while England lost another review after taking a caught-behind appeal upstairs, before rain forced the players off the field less than an hour into the session. It was a lengthy delay, leading to an early Lunch, before play finally resumed with revised timings and an allowance of 30 extra minutes in the final session.

Shafique and Imam built a steady partnership after play resumed, striking crisp boundaries amidst good strike rotation. Shafique was particularly fluent, repeatedly finding gaps on both sides of the wicket, while Imam grew into his innings after a watchful start. England's seamers continued to find movement but the pair held firm.

However, the partnership ended short of the 100 mark when Imam chased a full delivery outside off from Tongue and edged low to Harry Brook at second slip. Saud Shakeel made only five before being given out lbw in Robinson's over, and then ran out of time to review after discussing with Shafique—ball-tracking showed the delivery would have gone over the stumps.

Shafique carried on to his half-century and looked increasingly assured, but Robinson then produced the key breakthrough. Having troubled him with wobble-seam, Robinson got one to nip back sharply and beat the inside edge, getting him bowled for 61. Shafique's dismissal opened the floodgates.

Salman Agha, leading the team in place of the injured Babar Azam, provided a brief counterattack as he hit four boundaries in his 21. But Tongue struck twice in quick succession, bowling Agha before trapping Ali Usman lbw first ball on the brink of Tea as Pakistan slipped to 150 for 7, having been 97 for 2 at one stage.

Mohammad Rizwan briefly resisted with 12, but Tongue removed him too, before Robinson completed his five-wicket haul by having Khurram Shahzad caught for 14. Tongue then matched Robinson's five-for, bowling Mohammad Abbas for 2 as Pakistan's innings ended tamely.

England made a brisk start to their reply before Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Ali struck in successive overs to leave them 48 for 2. Ben Duckett fell first, lbw to Abbas for 15, and also cost England a review. Emilio Gay, who struck seven fours, including three in an over from Mohammad Ali, edged one to second slip to depart for 33 off 31.

Cox and Root then settled things down, putting on an unbroken half-century stand to take England past 100. The third wicket pair batted positively even with the close of play approaching, striking 10 fours between them as England maintained a scoring rate of nearly 4.5 to wrap up a successful Day 1 in Leeds.

Brief scores: Pakistan 171 (Abdullah Shafique 61, Imam-ul-Haq 42; Josh Tongue 5-46, Ollie Robinson 5-51) lead England 112/2 (Joe Root 37*, Emilio Gay 33; Mohammad Abbas 1-34) by 59 runs.