England ended day two of the opening Test against Pakistan in a commanding position at Headingley, with Harry Brook falling agonisingly short of a hundred on his home ground as the hosts built a substantial first innings lead over a struggling Pakistan attack. Joe Root, back for his second stint as England captain following Ben Stokes’ international retirement, oversaw a batting performance that pushed his side firmly into control of the three match series opener.

Rain once again disrupted proceedings, with a washed out morning session giving way to a 2:45pm start that still allowed for 58 overs of play across the day. Resuming their innings from overnight, Root and Jordan Cox picked up from 112 for two, first wiping out the remaining 59 run deficit before turning it into a lead of 27 for England. Cox went on to reach his maiden Test half century at the third attempt, with his captain following him to the milestone off the very next ball, before Cox was eventually dismissed for 73 off exactly 100 deliveries after edging a sharp turning delivery from Ali Usman, an innings that served as an encouraging audition in his new number three role. 

The day’s standout performance came from Brook, who top scored with a measured 91 off 93 balls, an innings that ultimately ended in mild anticlimax when he misread one of Usman’s left arm deliveries and was bowled via a flick off the pad. It marked the second year running that Brook had fallen agonisingly short of a hundred at Headingley, having also been dismissed for 99 against India at the same ground the previous summer. Brook survived a couple of scares along the way, including a missed stumping chance on 26 when he could have been caught behind off a sweep, and a near run out eleven runs later when a stumping attempt from Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha struck wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.

Dan Lawrence also contributed with the bat, registering his fifth Test half century and his first since March 2022, before becoming one of four England batters dismissed between 60 and 100 on the day when he top edged a slog sweep to a simple catch for Rizwan at square leg. Pakistan’s fielding continued to let the side down at key moments, with several missed opportunities compounding the tourists’ difficulties in the field. 

Amid the largely one sided passage of play, Pakistan found a lone bright spot in left arm spinner Ali Usman, who picked up five wickets for 92 runs, his maiden Test five wicket haul and remarkably the first return of its kind by a visiting spinner in England since Ashley Mallett achieved the feat during the 1972 Ashes series. Usman finished the day strongly, taking two wickets in two balls late in the evening, trapping Gus Atkinson leg before before producing a delivery that turned past Ollie Robinson’s outside edge to clip the top of off stump. 

Despite Usman’s efforts, the overall picture at the close of play remained bleak for the tourists. England’s batters largely fell in the twenties to nineties range rather than converting starts into big scores, yet the cumulative effect still left the tourists well behind in the contest, with Jamie Smith and Jofra Archer set to resume the innings on the third morning. Commentators following the match noted that given the fragilities already exposed in Pakistan’s batting line up during the first innings, England may need only one more effort with the bat to put itself in a position to force a result inside four days. 

The result of the opening Test carries weight beyond bragging rights, with both sides looking to secure early momentum in a three match series that also doubles as a fixture in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle. Root’s return to the England captaincy, following the international retirement of Ben Stokes, has so far coincided with a much needed batting effort from a top order that struggled for consistency in the recent past. Pakistan, missing regular captain Babar Azam through injury and led instead by Salman Ali Agha, will need a significant turnaround with both bat and ball if they are to avoid falling behind early in the series.

Play in the first Test continues at Headingley, with the remaining two matches of the series scheduled at Lord’s from August 27 to 31 and at Edgbaston in Birmingham from September 9 to 13.