England fired a dominant performance at Lord’s on Sunday, cruising to a 194-run win over Pakistan in the second Test to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Chasing a target of 389, Pakistan struggled to mount a serious challenge, with England pacers keeping things incredibly tight, striking repeatedly to rip through Pakistan's batting order to bowl the visitors out for 194.
Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue were highly effective, returning with four and three wickets. While Jofra Archers contributed with two scalps, leaving Pakistan with no hope of saving the match. However, the biggest resistance for Pakistan came from Saud Shakeel, who played a powerful innings of 97, stitching a valuable fourth-wicket partnership with Shan Masood. The pair added 97 runs.
Pakistan’s key players Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique were unable to make the kind of impact that was needed to fight England bowlers. Earlier, England had made 290 in their first innings after being asked to bat.
Pakistan, in reply, were dismissed for 110, handing England a big lead. Meanwhile, England scored 208 in their second innings, setting Pakistan a challenging target. Notably, this is a rollicking start to Joe Root’s second stint as England captain.