Pakistan Face Huge Edgbaston Fight as England Close In on Series Sweep

Pakistan arrived at Edgbaston hoping the final Test might give them something to take away from a difficult tour. Instead, they head into Day 3 with England firmly in control and another defeat becoming increasingly difficult to avoid.

England have already won the first two Tests, and their performance in Birmingham has put them in a strong position to complete a 3–0 series sweep.

After dismissing Pakistan for only 133 in the first innings, England turned that advantage into something much bigger with the bat. They reached 453, building a massive first-innings lead of 320 runs.

Harry Brook made 75, Dan Lawrence added 65 and Jamie Smith contributed 69. Even further down the order, Pakistan struggled to find a way through. Ollie Robinson scored 50 and Jofra Archer added a useful 32 as England kept pushing the game further away from the visitors.

For Pakistan, 21-year-old Razaullah provided one of the few encouraging moments. Playing his first Test, the fast bowler finished with four wickets and showed impressive pace and aggression despite England’s large total.

But Pakistan’s real problem has been their batting.

Their second innings could hardly have started worse. Robinson struck with the very first delivery, removing Saim Ayub for a duck. Three balls later, Abdullah Shafique was also gone.

Suddenly Pakistan were in trouble again.

Azan Awais and Shan Masood managed to steady things before rain brought an early end to Day 2. Pakistan reached 52 for two, but they still trail England by 268 runs just to make the hosts bat again.

That leaves them facing a simple but enormous challenge on Day 3: survive.

Robinson has been at the center of England’s dominance throughout the series. His two wickets on Thursday took him to 21 for the series, and Pakistan have yet to find a consistent answer to the pressure he creates.

There is still cricket left to play, and Pakistan have eight second-innings wickets in hand. A long partnership early on Day 3 could at least begin to change the mood of the match.

But the margin for error is now extremely small.

England have the runs on the board, the series already secured and the opportunity to finish their home Test campaign with a clean sweep.

Pakistan, meanwhile, are playing for something different now: resistance, pride and the chance to finally make England work for the result.

The first session at Edgbaston could tell us whether there is still a contest left — or whether England’s 3–0 sweep is only a matter of time.