Tongue and Robinson split Headingley match ball after five-wicket hauls

Josh Tongue and Ollie Robinson each took five-wicket hauls at Headingley on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan and arranged for the match ball to be split in half between them.

Tongue finished with 5-46 and Robinson with 5-51 as England, having won the toss, bowled Pakistan out for 171; Joe Root enjoyed an ideal start on the first day of his second stint as England Test captain.

On the unusual reward for two five-fors in the same innings, Tongue said: "Robbo said we can split the ball in half," Tongue told Test Match Special. "The groundstaff have kindly done that. "It's the first time I've seen that happen. I'm sure I'll be putting that up somewhere."

They led England off the field at Headingley hand in hand, and Robinson showed his half of the ball during a media conference. "We were walking off the field. "Josh said it and I said: 'We actually should do that, it would be quite cool.' "You don't really have too many halves of a cricket ball, so it would be something that we never forget," he said.

"Wayne Bentley, the team manager, took it down to the groundstaff," said Robinson. "I said: 'Do you reckon they will be able to do it?' Within five minutes he brought it back up and it was done. It's really nice."

Tongue and Robinson are the first pair of England bowlers to register five-wicket hauls in the same Test innings since Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar against Pakistan at Old Trafford in 2006, a feat not achieved by an England pair for 20 years.

Robinson's performance came during a week in which he and his wife Mia welcomed their first child together, Baby Eva, born in the early hours of last Thursday. "I've been catching up on my sleep since I got to the hotel in Leeds," said Robinson. "It's a really special week having another baby. It almost makes today even sweeter, when you leave them after the birth and you put a performance in. It meant a lot today to do that. "I know they're not here, but I was thinking of them the whole time." The spell was Robinson's fifth five-for in Test cricket; he had been recalled at the beginning of the summer after being left out over concerns about his fitness, played his first Test in more than two years against New Zealand at Lord's and marked that recall with seven wickets in the match, including a five-wicket haul. He now has 88 Test wickets at an average of 21.25. "No England seamer since 1914 has taken as many wickets at a better average," the article reported. "I probably learned a lot about myself when I was out of the team," said Robinson. "At the moment I probably feel as good as I've ever felt. I'm probably not in as good a rhythm - I know that sounds silly after wickets - but I'm probably not in as good a rhythm as I would like. "As long as I can stay on the park and stay fit, hopefully I can get that rhythm and stay good."

By the close in Leeds, the home side had moved to 112-2.