On a brooding second morning at Lord’s, with cloud hanging low and the ball talking just enough, Josh Tongue walked off to lunch with bat and ball under his arm and Pakistan in trouble.
England were bowled out for 290, but that number barely told the story of how the session unfolded. Tongue, unbeaten on 30, and Gus Atkinson, blazing 45 from 46 balls, dragged those runs out of Pakistan’s grasp, then England’s quicks ripped straight into the reply. By the time the players disappeared through the Long Room, Pakistan were 16 for 2 and rattled.
Tail-end defiance
England began on 248 for 9, a score that looked fragile and inviting. Pakistan sensed a quick kill. Tongue and Atkinson had other ideas.
Atkinson counter-attacked. He went at almost a run a ball, driving and pulling Pakistan’s seamers off their lengths, the kind of late-order hitting that changes the mood of a morning. One stroke too many ended him: 45 from 46, an assertive innings cut off when he drilled Ali Usman straight down the ground to Mohammad Ali, waiting for the chance.
The damage, though, had been done. The last pair added 47, England’s total swelled by 42 irritating runs, and Pakistan trudged off knowing a chase that might have started in control would now begin under pressure.
Tongue stayed 30 not out, leaving the field with a quiet nod. His real work was about to begin.
Archer ignites, Tongue finishes
Pakistan’s top order walked into an awkward, nervy hour before lunch. Overcast skies, a fresh Dukes ball, and Jofra Archer with his rhythm back. It did not take long.
Archer hit 91mph and hit his line. Shan Masood tried to ride it, but the extra pace did for him. A sharp ball kissed the edge and flew through to Jamie Smith behind the stumps. Archer roared, England closed in, and Pakistan were 1 down early.
The pressure did not relent. England’s quicks hunted together, hammering a probing length. Atkinson thought he had his moment when he drew a feather from Azan Awais, England going up in unison. Pakistan reviewed, and technology saved the batter, the faintest of hopes for the visitors in a hostile spell.
Just as Pakistan looked like they might drag themselves to lunch with only one wicket down, Tongue returned for a second burst. The tempo shifted again.
Abdullah Shafique, usually so composed, reached for a drive he did not quite need. Tongue found the edge. Initially turned down, England rolled the dice with the review. The replay showed a clear nick. Decision overturned. Shafique gone.
Pakistan slumped to 16 for 2, the last ball before lunch turning a difficult session into a damaging one.
Tongue led the players from the field, having underpinned England’s total with the bat and then cracked Pakistan’s reply open with the ball. On a tense Lord’s afternoon to come, his double act may yet prove the hinge on which this Test swings.
