England vs Pakistan: Second Test at Lord’s
BBC Sport
Smith & Cox help England to 248-9 on truncated day one
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Figure caption: Watch the moment Cox is dismissed by Salman Agha’s ‘unbelievable’ catch
By Stephan Shemilt, Cricket Correspondent at Lord’s
Published 27 August 2026, 18:38 BST
Updated 14 minutes ago
Second Rothesay Test, Lord’s (day one of five)
England 248-9:
Smith 61, Cox 55; Abbas 4-56
Pakistan: Yet to bat
Scorecard
Jamie Smith and Jordan Cox battled difficult conditions and an improved Pakistan performance to take England to a competitive total on the opening day of the second Test. In the damp and gloom at Lord’s, Smith made 61 and Cox 55 to take England to 248-9 on a first day that was delayed by rain and curtailed by bad light.
The value of the hosts’ score will only be revealed in time. The Lord’s pitch is much better than the poor surface used for England’s win against New Zealand in June, while more rain is forecast for the next three days. It could be that England have batted themselves into a position from where they can win this match and the series, which would be a successful end to a troubling week dominated by the Brydon Carse controversy.
Cox was again impressive in only his third Test. He added 67 for the sixth wicket with Smith, who looked fluent for a much-needed half-century. England were boosted by a late cameo of 34 not out from Gus Atkinson, while Pakistan were led by four wickets from Muhammad Abbas and three from Mohammad Ali. Things could have better for the tourists had they not dropped three catches.
Under a dark sky and with the floodlights on, England would probably have wanted to bowl before the day was out, only for the light to end proceedings.
England battle on the field after tough week off it
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Figure caption: ‘He’s holding England together’ – Cox brings up his 50
For England, the chance to win their first Test series since 2024 comes after yet another off-field drinking incident. Carse was removed from the squad for this Test after a night out in Derby on Saturday, with police investigating allegations of an assault. Carse is in the Durham side for their ongoing County Championship match against Gloucestershire.
The home side steamrollered Pakistan at Headingley in Joe Root’s first Test back as captain. It was always likely Pakistan would improve on their performance from Leeds, simply because the tourists could not play much worse. Pakistan were boosted by the return of captain Babar Azam from a hand injury, in the side for Salman Ali Agha who skippered in Leeds. Babar’s first impact was to call correctly and finally get the game under way at 12:20 BST.
The tourists’ trio of fast-medium seamers were ideally suited to the conditions and they showed much greater control than last week. England were sometimes wasteful – Dan Lawrence ran himself out and Harry Brook was bowled driving – and sometimes unlucky – Emilio de Silva dropped a sitter at mid-off off Abbas.
