England Beat Pakistan by 194 Runs, Take 2-0 Series Lead at Lord’s

England beat Pakistan by 194 runs at Lord’s to take an unassailable 2-0 series lead. Ollie Robinson took match figures of 8 for 35 to win Player of the Match. But two individual moments inside this defeat matter more than the scoreline.

Pakistan chased 389, slipped to 14 for 3, and never recovered. Saud Shakeel’s 97 delayed the loss but could not prevent it. It was England’s first Test series win since New Zealand in December 2024.

Abbas Finally Gets His Lord’s Five-For

Mohammad Abbas took 5 for 57 in the second innings, finishing with nine wickets for the match and his first five-wicket haul at Lord’s.

In 2018, the last time Pakistan won here, Abbas took four wickets in each innings without ever reaching five. This week he completed it, dismissing Robinson with an edge through to Rizwan. Nine wickets in a losing cause, but the honours board milestone he had chased for eight years.

Babar’s Run Out Answers the Headingley Criticism

Pakistan’s fielding at Headingley drew heavy criticism, dropped catches and a captain injuring his finger on a routine chance.

At Lord’s, Babar Azam swooped on a shot into the covers and threw down the stumps to run out Josh Tongue, the last wicket of the match. It changed nothing about the result. It was still the exact standard Pakistan’s fielders could not produce for an entire Test without him.

Shakeel’s 97: The Best Innings That Changed Nothing

Shakeel reached fifty off 54 balls and fell three short of a century, holing out to deep square leg. Thirteen fours, two sixes, a blow to the helmet he played through. The best Pakistan innings of the match, and still only damage limitation against a target of 389.

Final Scorecard

	1st Innings	2nd Innings
England	290	208
Pakistan	110	194-9

Result: England won by 194 runs Player of the Match: Ollie Robinson (ENG) — 4/11 and 4/24

Bowler	Match Figures
Robinson	8-35
Abbas	9 wickets
Archer	5 wickets
Tongue	3-46 (2nd innings)

Edgbaston Next

The series is decided, but Edgbaston is not meaningless. Abbas’s five-for and Babar’s run out are the two things worth carrying forward. Whether Pakistan can build a full performance from those fragments is the question this tour keeps asking.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the result of the second Test between England and Pakistan? England won by 194 runs at Lord’s, taking a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Who won Player of the Match at Lord’s? Ollie Robinson, with match figures of 8 for 35 across both innings.

Did Mohammad Abbas take a five-wicket haul at Lord’s? Yes. Abbas took 5 for 57 in England’s second innings, his first five-wicket haul at Lord’s and ninth wicket of the match.

How many runs did Saud Shakeel score in Pakistan’s second innings? Shakeel scored 97, falling three runs short of a century, in Pakistan’s unsuccessful chase of 389.

Has Pakistan already lost the series against England? Yes. England’s 2-0 lead with one Test remaining means Pakistan cannot win the series, though the third Test at Edgbaston is still to be played.

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Dan Lawrence’s Fifty Pushes Pakistan Towards a 357-Run Chase at Lord’s

England 290 and 177 for 7 (Lawrence 50, Abbas 3-48) lead Pakistan 110 by 357 runs*

Dan Lawrence battled brutal conditions and repeated rain interruptions to keep England firmly in control on a gloomy Day 3 at Lord’s. Mohammad Abbas took three wickets on a pitch offering prodigious lateral movement, but with England already 261 runs ahead overnight, Pakistan’s task of staying in the match was looking close to impossible by the close of play.

Rain Delays and a Four-Wicket Burst From Abbas

Play did not start until 2:20pm after persistent rain. England resumed on 81 for 3, Emilio Gay unbeaten on 30 and Harry Brook on 7, but lost four wickets within the first hour of play resuming.

Gay fell first, pinned on the shin by an Abbas delivery that kept cruelly low, the ball offering no way out. Abbas had already beaten his outside edge with the first ball of that same over. Brook followed soon after, edging a ball that leapt more than expected through to Mohammad Rizwan for Abbas’s second wicket. Jamie Smith, the first innings’ top scorer, miscued an Abbas nip-backer to square leg shortly after.

Rizwan wore several deliveries awkwardly on the hands and body either side of a 15-minute rain delay, a sign of just how much the ball was moving throughout the innings.

Lawrence Digs In With Genuine Aggression

Amid the collapse around him, Dan Lawrence played with a poise and aggression that stood apart from the conditions. He struck back-to-back fours off Khurram Shahzad when the bowler erred on length, then hit Mohammad Ali for four and six in consecutive balls, the six an authoritative lofted drive clearing deep extra cover.

Rain forced tea a few minutes early with Lawrence on 37 not out off 57 balls. Gus Atkinson was trapped lbw on the third ball after the interval, beaten by one that nipped in from Mohammad Ali.

Lawrence brought up his half-century in two strokes, first dropping to one knee to slog-sweep Ali Usman into the stands beyond deep midwicket, then pulling Mohammad Ali for a single to deep square leg the following over. It was his sixth Test fifty, and his second of this series after also reaching fifty in England’s innings win at Headingley.

Play was abandoned just after 6:30pm for bad light, despite the potential for close to an hour of remaining play and sunlight visible on the horizon as the players walked off.

Lawrence’s Recall Story

Lawrence’s half-century came in only his third Test back after a two-year absence from the format. He was recalled for this series on the strength of consistently strong County Championship form, with Ben Stokes’s international retirement opening up the allrounder’s role at No. 6, where England can also call on Lawrence’s offspin.

Before this series, his previous Test appearance had come as an opener in the home series against Sri Lanka in September 2024.

Scorecard: End of Day 3

England 1st Innings: 290 all out

England 2nd Innings: 177 for 7

Batter	Dismissal	Runs
Emilio Gay	lbw b Abbas	30
Harry Brook	c Rizwan b Abbas	7
Jamie Smith	c square leg b Abbas	—
Gus Atkinson	lbw b Mohammad Ali	—
Dan Lawrence	not out	50*

Bowler	R	W
Mohammad Abbas	48	3
Mohammad Ali	—	2
Khurram Shahzad	—	—
Ali Usman	—	—

Pakistan face a target of 358 runs to win, or need to bat out the remainder of the Test to force a draw.

Going Into Day 4

Pakistan’s batting has managed only 110 runs in the match so far. A chase in excess of 350 is close to unprecedented territory for this lineup on this tour, and simply surviving until stumps on the final day looks like the more realistic ambition. Mohammad Abbas’s three-wicket burst on Day 3 offered the only real encouragement, a reminder that this pitch still has enough movement in it to trouble batters if Pakistan can find early wickets when England eventually declare or are bowled out.

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Azan Awais Fights Alone as Pakistan Slip to 110 All Out at Lord’s

Pakistan were bowled out for 110 in their first innings, handing England a 180-run lead that grew to 261 by the close of Day 2. Only Azan Awais offered genuine resistance, top-scoring for either side on a day his own bowlers could not match.

Imam-ul-Haq did not bat, a calf strain from Day 1 fielding keeping him in the pavilion. Shan Masood moved up to open in his place and lasted only a handful of overs against Jofra Archer’s pace. Abdullah Shafique was worked over by hostile short bowling from Archer and Josh Tongue before losing his footing on a loose, wide drive.

That left the 21-year-old Awais to carry Pakistan’s innings almost entirely on his own.

A Fighting 35 That Nobody Else Managed

Awais crawled to 8 off 44 balls in the hour before lunch, leaving nearly a quarter of the deliveries he faced against England’s most hostile spell of the innings. Gus Atkinson beat him with a rearing bumper so sharp the umpire needed UltraEdge to confirm he had not nicked it.

Babar Azam, batting at the other end, showed what fluency looked like against the same attack, driving through cover twice in successive overs before Tongue drew an uncertain push from him outside off. Saud Shakeel came and went quickly at the other end, as Pakistan’s more experienced batters continued to fall in short order around their youngest player.

Awais found his rhythm after lunch. He cut Atkinson twice through square, drove him gloriously through cover, then leaned into a drive past the cover sweeper off Archer on the stroke of a rain break. From that first boundary onward, he scored 27 off 26 balls, his leave percentage dropping below 7 percent as he balanced patience with intent.

No batter on either side scored more individual runs than Awais that day.

Jofra Archer, who bowled long, testing spells at him throughout, admitted afterward: “I’ve never seen someone play and miss so many balls and not get out. So whatever he’s doing, he’s doing well. So fair play to him.”

How the Wicket Fell

Awais was eventually dismissed by Ollie Robinson, who had conceded less than a run an over through the entire innings. Robinson banged in a rare bouncer with the keeper standing up to the stumps, deep square leg waiting in position. It was the 102nd ball Awais had faced and the first one he pulled, straight into Emilio Gay’s hands at deep square leg.

Pakistan head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed praised the innings afterward: “The spell Archer bowled to Awais this morning was sensational. But hats off to Awais, the way the kid handled that spell. It’s going to be great for his career.”

Scorecard: Pakistan First Innings, 110 All Out (37.2 overs)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Ollie Robinson	13	6	11	4
Jofra Archer	11.2	—	26	3
Josh Tongue	—	—	—	2
Gus Atkinson	—	—	—	0

England lead by 261 runs, resuming their second innings at 81 for 3 on Day 3.

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Mohammad Abbas took 4 for 56 and reached his 900th first-class wicket as Pakistan bowled England out for parts on a seam-friendly opening day at Lord’s. England closed on 248 for 8, with Jamie Smith making 61 and Jordan Cox 55 dragging the hosts back from 77 for 4. Bad light denied Pakistan the final wicket just after 6:30pm.

It was the seam-bowling day Pakistan never had at Headingley. Abbas and Mohammad Ali shared seven wickets between them, England lost three wickets inside the first hour, and a Pakistan side that lost their first Test by an innings and 103 runs looked like a completely different bowling unit by the time bad light stopped play.

Mohammad Abbas 900 Wickets Milestone at Lord’s

Abbas removed Emilio Gay in the fifth over, Mohammad Rizwan diving full length to complete a catch down the leg side. Ten balls later he trapped Ben Duckett lbw, Babar Azam’s review upheld when ball-tracking showed the delivery clipping the top of off stump. That wicket was Abbas’s 900th in first-class cricket.

By lunch he had figures of 3 for 34, extracting the seam movement from Lord’s overhead conditions that eluded him completely at Headingley. He finished with 4 for 56, adding Jofra Archer late in the day when the England allrounder was beaten attempting to clear long-off.

England beat Pakistan by an innings and 103 runs

Abbas’s county experience with Hampshire and Nottinghamshire was the story before this Test even began. On Day 1 at Lord’s, it showed.

Mohammad Ali’s Twin Nip-Backers Remove Brook and Smith

Mohammad Ali produced the two most eye-catching deliveries of the day, both nip-backers that jagged in sharply through the batter’s defence.

The first accounted for Harry Brook, England’s leading run-scorer from the Headingley innings win, the ball crashing into the stumps after beating his attempted drive. The second did the same to Jamie Smith immediately after his half-century, an almost identical delivery beating an almost identical shot.

Ali then took his third wicket in three balls, a fuller ball seaming back through Ollie Robinson’s defences. His figures of 3 for 67 undersell how much difficulty his movement caused throughout the innings.

Cox and Smith Rebuild England From 77-4

Jordan Cox, playing his third Test, top-scored jointly with a disciplined 55, sharing a 67-run stand for the sixth wicket with Jamie Smith after England had slumped to 77 for 4. Smith made 61, his third fifty in 20 Test innings, arriving under pressure after a lean run of scores and looking fluent from the moment he reached the crease.

The pair added 60 runs off 77 balls before tea. Smith ended a 15-over England boundary drought by nicking Ali Usman through the slips. Ali Usman himself applied pressure through the middle session, conceding just two runs in his first three overs and forcing the mix-up between Cox and Dan Lawrence that ended their 43-run stand. Shan Masood’s direct hit from midwicket caught Lawrence well short of his ground after Cox sent him back.

Salman Agha’s Substitute Fielding Catch

Dropped from the XI for Babar Azam’s return, Salman Agha was on the field as a substitute fielder when he took the catch of the day. Springing high to his right at second slip, he pulled the ball out of the sky and twisted in mid-air, holding on despite a heavy landing to end Cox’s innings.

Pakistan’s Fielding Improvement at Lord’s

Pakistan’s fielding at Headingley was one of the clearest problems in the innings defeat. At Lord’s it was better without being flawless. A chance went down in the slips off Joe Root, and a fumble in the cordon gifted Cox a needless run. But the moments that mattered went Pakistan’s way — Rizwan’s diving catch to remove Gay, Salman Agha’s substitute stunner to end Cox’s innings.

Scorecard: England First Innings, Day 1

Batter	Dismissal	Runs
Emilio Gay	c Rizwan b Abbas	—
Ben Duckett	lbw b Abbas	—
Joe Root	lbw b Abbas	—
Harry Brook	b Mohammad Ali	—
Dan Lawrence	run out	—
Jordan Cox	c Agha (sub) b Khurram Shahzad	55
Jamie Smith	b Mohammad Ali	61
Ollie Robinson	b Mohammad Ali	—
Jofra Archer	b Abbas	—
Josh Tongue	not out	—

Bowler	R	W
Mohammad Abbas	56	4
Mohammad Ali	67	3
Khurram Shahzad	—	1
Ali Usman	—	0

Full over-by-over figures to be confirmed against the official scorecard

What Day 1 at Lord’s Means for Pakistan

Pakistan need one more wicket to close out England’s first innings, denied by bad light with just under 90 minutes still available in the day. A first-innings total below 260 at Lord’s, on a surface offering this much seam movement, gives Pakistan’s batting lineup — with Babar Azam back in the side — a genuine opportunity to bat England out of the contest.

The improvement from Headingley is real and visible in the numbers. Whether it translates into a competitive position depends on how Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafique and Babar himself handle the same conditions that troubled England’s top order through the first two sessions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was England’s score at the end of Day 1 at Lord’s? England closed on 248 for 8 at stumps, with Jamie Smith making 61 and Jordan Cox 55. Bad light stopped play with Pakistan needing one more wicket.

How many wickets did Mohammad Abbas take on Day 1 at Lord’s? Mohammad Abbas took 4 for 56, including the wicket that brought up his 900th in first-class cricket when he had Ben Duckett lbw.

What is Mohammad Abbas’s first-class wickets milestone? Abbas reached 900 first-class wickets when he dismissed Ben Duckett lbw on Day 1 at Lord’s, with the decision upheld on review.

Who were England’s top scorers on Day 1 at Lord’s? Jamie Smith top-scored with 61 and Jordan Cox made 55, sharing a 67-run sixth-wicket stand after England had slumped to 77 for 4.

Who took the standout catch for Pakistan on Day 1? Salman Agha, playing as a substitute fielder after being dropped from the XI for Babar Azam’s return, took a diving catch at second slip to dismiss Jordan Cox.