England captain Joe Root moved to third place on the list of most Test matches played by an individual. On Wednesday, September 9, he surpassed Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting to move a step closer to Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson. Notably, his appearance against Pakistan took Root to 169 Tests. Tendulkar tops the list with 200 matches, while England’s James Anderson has played 188 Test matches in his career.
On the other hand, Root is currently second on the list of most runs in Test cricket history. He has made 14,208 runs in the format at an average of 50.38, including 41 centuries and 68 fifties.
England rattle Pakistan in opening session
England won the toss and opted to bowl first in the third Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston. Now, despite the ground being suitable for the batters, the visitors lost wickets like a house of cards, losing seven wickets for 100 runs in the opening session of Day 1.
Opener Saim Ayub once again scored a duck, while his opening partner Azan Awais made nine. Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood and captain Babar Azam made 3, 5 and 7 runs, respectively, as Pakistan were reduced to 48/5 at one stage. Keeper-batter Ghazi Ghori and Saud Shakeel then built a small partnership of 16 runs before the prior departed for four runs. Soon after that, Mohammad Imran Randhawa made way for five runs.
After the opening spell of Ollie Robinson and Jofra Archer, who picked two wickets each, Josh Tongue dominated in the middle, claiming three wickets. With that, Pakistan were once again put on the backfoot. The team made seven changes since the Lord’s Test, changing the head coach and bowling coach, but they still show no signs of improvement at all. Even on a batting surface, Pakistan were rattled and it’s only a matter of time before they are backed.
Pakistan (Playing XI): Azan Awais, Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood, Babar Azam (c), Saud Shakeel, Ghazi Ghori (wk), Mohammad Imran Randhawa, Razaullah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali
England (Playing XI): Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox, Joe Root (c), Harry Brook, Dan Lawrence, Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue
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