Babar Azam walked back out as Pakistan's Test captain today, and for a long passage of play at Lord's it looked like the perfect script — his side had England reeling. By the close, though, it was England's tail that had the last word. Day 1 of the 2nd Test ended with England on 248/9 from 56 rain-shortened overs, and Pakistan still chasing parity in a series they trail 1-0.
England won the 1st Test at Leeds (August 19-21) by an innings and 103 runs, bowling Pakistan out for 171 and 135 around their own 409. Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue took eight wickets apiece in that match and shared Player of the Match honours between them, and Pakistan arrived at Lord's needing a response rather than a formality.
Pakistan made exactly one change for the 2nd Test — but it is the change that matters most. Babar Azam returned to lead the side, replacing stand-in skipper Salman Agha. Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl first, a decision that looked shrewd inside the first two sessions.
Rain delayed the start and bad light ended it early, compressing the day into 56 overs, but Pakistan's seamers made the most of the time they had. Mohammad Abbas finished with 4/56, probing away with the discipline that has been his trademark for a decade, while Mohammad Ali took 3/67 — including two wickets in the same over, removing Jamie Smith for 61 and Ollie Robinson without scoring, to leave England wobbling at 222/8.
From there, England's lower order did what good lower orders do. Gus Atkinson finished unbeaten on 34 from 27 balls, farming the strike alongside Josh Tongue (1 not out), having earlier added useful runs with Jofra Archer (14). It was not a chanceless rescue, but it was enough to push England past 220 and take some of the shine off Pakistan's morning and afternoon work.
Read purely as a number, 248/9 favours neither team decisively. For Pakistan, taking nine wickets in a rain-affected day at Lord's after conceding an innings defeat last week is genuine progress, and Abbas bowling with this much control suggests their attack is finding its range. For England, a total anywhere near 250 with one wicket in hand and the option to bat on tomorrow morning is a platform, not a collapse — and at Lord's, first-innings runs on the board have historically mattered more than how untidy the accumulation looked.
Wrapping up the tail quickly on the second morning and then batting long is the obvious equation. Pakistan's batting was the problem at Leeds — 171 and 135 does not win Test matches anywhere, let alone in England — so today's bowling effort will count for little unless the top order responds. Babar's own form with the bat, not just his return to the armband, is the subplot to watch from Day 2 onward.
With the Women's Asia Cup also underway from today in Dubai, it's a packed week for cricket fans across formats. Track ball-by-ball updates and lineups for every match on SportGod's live matches page, and check our AI predictions for win-probability shifts as the Test progresses. For a similar tight finish from last week, revisit our recap of India's drawn Test in Colombo.
Scores and match details verified against official series coverage of Pakistan's 2026 tour of England, current through the close of play on Day 1, August 27.
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