Robinson and Tongue take five each as England trail by 59 at Headingley
England and Pakistan began the First Test at Headingley on 19 August 2026 with Pakistan dismissed for 171 and England finishing day one on 112 for two, Joe Root 37 not out and Jordan Cox 23 not out.
Root was playing his 167th Test and has captained England on 65 previous occasions; he walked out for the toss on his home ground, resumed a role he once described as an "unhealthy relationship" with the captaincy, and had returned briefly earlier this summer in a stint that ended in a crushing defeat to New Zealand.
Ollie Robinson opened the series with the first ball wicket, trapping Azan Awais lbw from around the wicket — the first time a Test series in England has started with a wicket — and finished with figures of five for 51 from 18 overs, including an afternoon spell of eight overs for two for 17 that was a positive for his fitness and old-ball prowess.
Josh Tongue claimed five for 46 as well, his fourth five-wicket haul in Test cricket, and the pair between them accounted for all 10 Pakistan wickets; Tongue and Robinson dismissed the final two batsmen in successive deliveries.
Abdullah Shafique, who came in at six for two after Shan Masood was trapped lbw by Robinson, top-scored for Pakistan with 61, while Imam-ul-Haq added 91 for the third wicket with Shafique before struggling with an ankle problem and driving loosely to slip for 42, where Tongue took the catch.
Tongue also had Salman Ali Agha and Mohammad Rizwan lbw, and after a third lbw against Ali Usman left him on a hat-trick Khurram Shahzad, with a first-class average of 10, struck through the vacant covers for four to deny it.
Mohammad Abbas trapped Ben Duckett lbw on 15 and Mohammad Ali removed Emilio Gay when a delivery flew to slip to end Gay's 33 off 31 balls; Jordan Cox contributed a composed 23 not out in his first outing at No 3 and he and Root added an unbroken 64 to leave England 59 behind, with the final session extended to 7.30pm because of an earlier downpour.
