Under grey skies and on a pitch that never quite relaxed, this final Test turned into a character examination as much as a contest. Some passed with style. Others will spend the winter replaying it in their heads.
England: Runs, Risks and a Dukes Masterclass
Emilio Gay walked into the toughest examination of his young career and met it head-on. His first-innings 60, a Test-best, was not pretty, but it was exactly what the situation demanded: stubborn, gritty, and stitched together against a ball that kept whispering trouble. It felt like a ticket stamped for South Africa. Then came the second-innings duck, a brutal reminder that one innings does not guarantee a winter berth. His series mark of 6 reflects that tension: promise, but not yet security.
At the top of the order, Ben Duckett’s summer simply fell apart. Eleven and nought in this match, 44 runs at 8.8 across three Tests. Those are numbers that end debates, not start them. Rated a 2 for the match and series, he now walks into the off-season under the harsh glare of scrutiny, his place no longer a given.
Jordan Cox’s game went in the opposite direction. A soft first-innings dismissal might have rattled a lesser player, but his unbeaten 59 in the chase was ice-cold, arriving just when Pakistan sensed a wobble. With the gloves, he was even better. Five dismissals after being thrown the keeping duties due to Jamie Smith’s injury gave the selectors something new to chew on. A 7 here and across the series feels about right for a player who suddenly looks far more than a stopgap.
Joe Root’s Test was a neat snapshot of where he is right now. With the bat, 62 not out to drag England home, all calm hands and quiet authority. With the armband, more questions. His captaincy during Pakistan’s second innings will not escape analysis, with fields and bowling changes inviting debate. The technical issue lingers too: 10 lbws in his last 14 innings is no coincidence. England’s all-time leading run-scorer still has a kink to iron out. A 7 for the match and series: effective, but not flawless.
Harry Brook played the grown-up innings England have been waiting for. On day one, with Pakistan tightening the screws, he dug in. Disciplined, focused, and far more patient than the caricature of Brook the dasher. He fell for 75, run out when a century felt within reach, but the application before that was what mattered. He ends the series as leading run-scorer with 215 runs at 53.75, a series rating of 8 and a sense that his game has taken a step forward.
Dan Lawrence, shunted up and down the order all series, finally imposed himself. His 65 carried a confidence that suggested he deserves a proper run in the middle order rather than a utility role. England barely used his bowling, but a series average of 46.75 with the bat and twin 7s for match and series will not hurt his chances when winter tours are picked.
Jamie Smith’s Test stopped just as it threatened to get going. Another handy half-century keeps his stock high, and his keeping in Pakistan’s first innings was competent enough. Then the finger injury ended his involvement behind the stumps and opened the door for Cox. A 6 feels like a pause, not a verdict.
Gus Atkinson looked destined for another hard-luck story when he trudged off wicketless from Pakistan’s first innings. The change came when he switched to the City End. Suddenly, the rhythm clicked, the ball bit, and three wickets arrived to lift both his mood and his rating to a 6 in this match, 5 across the series. Not spectacular, but important.
Jofra Archer’s return carried menace even when the figures didn’t always flatter. He went for runs in the second innings, but the pace was there, the hostility too. The bouncer that removed Saud Shakeel was vicious, the sort of ball that changes a game’s temperature. England will cling to that sight. Keeping him fit over the next 12 months will define more than one campaign. A 7 here and 8 across the series underline his importance.
Ollie Robinson, though, was the bowler who owned this series. With a Dukes ball in English conditions, he is operating on a different level. Another display of ruthless control set the tone again, and he finishes with 21 wickets at a scarcely believable 8.76. Add a breezy half-century on day two to entertain the crowd and you get an 8 in this Test and a towering 9 for the series. Right now, there is no better tone-setter in these conditions.
Josh Tongue backed him up with bite and consistency. Four for 42 in the first innings as he mopped up the tail, and 19 wickets across the three Tests in total. He looks less like a newcomer and more like a permanent piece of the attack. A 7 here, 8 for the series, and a place firmly inked in.
Pakistan: Flickers of Class, a New Star, and Familiar Questions
For Pakistan, this was a tour of flashes rather than full performances. Azan Awais is one of those flickers. Still feeling his way into Test cricket, he showed real fight with 59 from 84 balls in the second innings after walking in at 0-2. It was a counterpunch worth noting, and a 7 that suggests he is a project worth sticking with.
Saim Ayub’s story was harsher. Drafted in after sweeping changes, without a first-class game since last October, he looked exactly what he was: undercooked. A pair felt almost inevitable. He earns a solitary point, more for the willingness to drop the CPL instantly and answer the call than for anything that happened in the middle.
Abdullah Shafique had already shown his quality earlier in the series with two half-centuries, but under heavy skies he became easy prey. Robinson got him twice here, for three and nought, and the Sussex seamer barely broke sweat doing it. A rating of 1 reflects a match he will want to forget.
Shan Masood, by contrast, stood tall. His first-innings dismissal was meek, but his response second time around was anything but. A composed, defiant 95, crafted while everything around him frayed, gave Pakistan a heartbeat and top score for the tourists in the match. An 8 feels fully earned.
Babar Azam reminded everyone, briefly, why his name still carries such weight. His 76 was a classy, flowing innings, the kind that makes the game look simple. It came too late to alter the course of the match or the series, though, and the noise around his captaincy will not fade. A 6 underlines the divide between his artistry with the bat and the questions over his leadership.
Saud Shakeel walked a fine line between fortune and failure. He top-scored in the first innings with 43, then added 29 in the second before Archer’s savage bouncer ended his stay. Across the series he finishes as Pakistan’s leading run-scorer with 204 at 34.00, a steady if unspectacular return that matches his rating of 6.
Ghazi Ghori endured a debut that will sting. Scores of four and 16 with the bat did little to shift the game, and with the gloves he struggled badly standing up to the stumps, leaking 18 byes. A 2 tells its own story.
Mohammad Imran, by contrast, offered something every captain craves: control. He was Pakistan’s most economical bowler, reining in England’s scoring when it threatened to run away. His 6 reflects that quiet but vital contribution.
Then came Razaullah Khan, the performance that will be replayed long after this series is filed away. With the ball, the 21-year-old tore in with real bite, taking 4-148 in the first innings and evoking memories of a young Waqar Younis with his energy and shape. With the bat, he was unforgettable. An 81 laced with nine sixes – a joint-best mark – turned a lower-order cameo into something far more lasting. A 9 and the sense that a star has arrived.
Mohammad Ali’s figures never quite matched his effort. He chased wickets, beat the bat often enough, but lacked the consistency and control to turn pressure into reward. The no-ball that cost him Root’s wicket in the second innings summed up his match: promise, undermined by lapses. A 5 feels fair.
At the other end of the experience scale, Mohammad Abbas did what Mohammad Abbas always does. At 36, he shouldered a heavy workload without complaint, kept hammering away at a length, and found just enough movement to keep England honest. His lower-order runs helped force England to bat again, then he got the ball talking on day four to give the hosts a genuine scare. A 7 for the match, and another entry in a career built on relentlessness rather than noise.
England emerge with the series, Pakistan with a handful of new questions and at least one new hero. The next time these sides meet, the names on the team-sheets may look different. The memories of this scrap, and the markers laid down, will not.
