England Thrash Pakistan Inside Three Days as Joe Root’s Captaincy Return Begins with Stunning Victory

England made a stunning start to a new era under returning captain Joe Root, crushing Pakistan by an innings and 103 runs inside three days in the first Test at Headingley on Friday.

The emphatic victory gave England a 1-0 lead in the three-match series and provided an immediate boost after a turbulent period that saw Ben Stokes retire from Test cricket and Brendon McCullum leave the red-ball coaching role following the 2-1 series defeat to New Zealand in June.

England had resumed the third day on 366/8 and added 43 runs to reach 409, securing a commanding 238-run first-innings lead. Jofra Archer contributed a quick 23, including the only six of the match, before Khurram Shahzad claimed both remaining wickets.

Pakistan's second innings never threatened to turn the contest into a fourth-day battle. Jofra Archer removed both openers early, before Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue dismantled the middle order with relentless seam bowling.

Robinson broke through Abdullah Shafique's defence to end a promising partnership with Shan Masood, while Tongue struck immediately after lunch. His clever use of the field was rewarded when Saud Shakeel picked out Dan Lawrence at backward square.

Tongue then removed Masood and stand-in captain Salman Agha, leaving Pakistan reeling at 76/6. He finished with three wickets in the innings and eight in the match. Robinson also claimed three in the second innings to finish with outstanding match figures of 8/80.

The two seamers had already combined for all 10 Pakistan wickets in the first innings, taking five wickets apiece. Remarkably, they even split the match ball in half so each could keep a piece as a souvenir.

Mohammad Rizwan offered Pakistan's only meaningful resistance, top-scoring with 41, but fell as the ninth wicket with the total still well short of England's first-innings score.

Pakistan were eventually dismissed for just 135 in 37.3 overs, completing England's biggest statement of intent in the opening Test of the new Root era. The victory also highlighted the strength of England's pace attack, with Robinson, Tongue, Archer and Gus Atkinson sharing all 20 wickets in the match.

The second Test begins at Lord's on August 27, with England now needing just one more victory to secure the three-match series.