England complete Test series 3-0 with 8-wicket win over Pakistan at Edgbaston

Joe Root led England to a 3-0 Test series win over Pakistan after scoring an unbeaten 62 in the third Test at Edgbaston. Chasing 130 for victory, England got off to a poor start. Ben Duckett was dismissed by Mohammad Abbas first ball of the innings, while opener Emilio Gay also fell later in the same over.At 2 on 2, Pakistan had a chance to put England under pressure. But Root and Jordan Cox stayed calm and slowly took control of the chase.It was the first time England had whitewashed Pakistan in a home Test series.Root survived a major scare when Mohammad Ali bowled him for 23 but the delivery was called a no-ball. It was Ali’s 17th no-ball of the series.Then Pakistan squandered another opportunity when Root, on 38, edged Abbas between first and second slip. Neither fielder went for a catch.Root made Pakistan pay for missed chances. His unbeaten 62 was his 110th Test innings of 50 or more, which includes 41 centuries.Cox remained unbeaten on 59 as England reached the target in the 25th over with eight wickets in hand.

Root praises Pakistan’s fight

Pakistan showed more fight in the third Test after conceding a huge deficit of 320 runs in the first innings.Root said the difficult chase came in handy for England after Pakistan put them under pressure.“Fair play to Pakistan, they gave us a couple of blows last night. They made it very difficult for us and in some ways it’s good to go through,” Root said.“Test cricket isn’t always going to go our way but to see us actually be quite clinical with the bat on our backs was good too. So in many ways we’re better for it.”“Obviously there are things we’ll want to improve on, but ?we came into this ?series with a lot of question marks and a lot of buzz around the team and we came away 3-0 winners, so ?I’m pretty ?pleased in that regard.”

England bounced back after a tough spell

The series came after a difficult period for England, who were struggling to recover from their Ashes defeat to New Zealand.Root’s return to captaincy following Ben Stokes’ retirement from international cricket ended with a series whitewash.Pakistan had one major positive in the third Test. Debutant Razaullah scored an impressive 81 off 63 balls to give his team hope and energy going into the match at Edgbaston.

Robinson paces England’s attack

England’s fast bowlers were once again too strong for Pakistan on the auxiliary surfaces.Ollie Robinson led the charge and finished the streak with 21 wickets to be named England’s Player of the Series.“I’m a realist, I know it won’t always be like that,” said Robinson, England’s player of the series.“We know we have tougher times ahead of us. We have tough opposition ahead of us and we look forward to the challenge.”Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson also played important roles in England’s dominating series win.England’s batting was less convincing, with no batsman managing to score a century in three Tests.Jacob Bethell is expected to return to the winter tour after recovering from knee surgery. That could leave one of Emilio Gay, Dan Lawrence or Cox fighting for a spot on the team.Cox, who kept wicket even in the second innings due to Jamie Smith’s finger injury, strengthened his case with his unbeaten 59.

Pakistan face more questions after the 3-0 loss

The defeat was yet another setback for Pakistan, who have now lost 16 of their last 21 Tests.Their tour was also marked by major changes. After the second Test, seven players were replaced in the squad while coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and his assistant Umar Gul were recalled.Pakistan captain Babar Azam said the team had some positive moments but blamed their first innings for the defeat.“We had some good moments. I think we bowled well but I think the first innings cost us. Too many soft dismissals,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said.“I think it was a good opportunity for the young players to play against quality bowlers, quality opposition, so they learned a lot and I think it’s useful for the future.”Pakistan will now turn their attention to their next task against Sri Lanka in October.England, meanwhile, will face South Africa in a three-Test series in December and January. Marcus Trescothick, who took over as Red-ball’s interim head coach following the departure of Brendon McCullum, will hand over the team to Stephen Fleming.