England find another man for a crisis in Jordan Cox

There is perhaps no batsman in Test history as accustomed as Joe Root to walking in with the scoreboard reading “not many for two” and his team in a tight spot.

That is where Root found himself once again soon after 11am on Saturday. His team were two for two, with both openers out for ducks, and the problems of the third evening bleeding into the fourth morning. A chaotic and patchwork Pakistan team suddenly believed Mohammad Abbas could inspire their defence of 130.

A familiar position for Root, sure, but not the young man at the other end, the rookie No 3 Jordan Cox. Together, they eased England out of a creeping crisis with such aplomb that the target was chased swiftly enough that the few thousand at Edgbaston were refunded 50 per cent of their ticket prices because so few overs were bowled. When Cox hit the winning run, a scrambled single into the off side, Root’s relief was palpable. His team had been tested, and he felt they would be “better for it”.

They had won his first series since returning to the captaincy 3-0, but not without a scare at the last. The scorecard will record this as a routine England eight-wicket win and, for the most part, it was. But England were rattled by Razaullah, a 21-year-old who spent the first two Tests of this series in Mardan, in the mountains of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. Having bowled quickly, he wreaked havoc on the third evening with his 63-ball 81, taking England from the brink of an innings victory to an awkward chase.

Razaullah’s partner with the bat was Abbas, who provided England with an almighty fright on the fourth morning. First ball, Ben Duckett was caught behind. The ball was angled in, demanding that it was played, then nipped slightly away, taking the edge. Duckett’s trudge off was glacial, with his curious Test summer over. He has scored England’s only century of the season, but failed to make fifty otherwise. In this series, he has averaged just eight.