{"id":131512,"date":"2026-08-19T19:33:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T14:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=131512"},"modified":"2026-08-19T19:33:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T14:33:30","slug":"robinson-double-rocks-pakistan-in-first-test-before-rain-stops-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/","title":{"rendered":"Robinson double rocks Pakistan in first Test before rain stops play"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leeds,England(National Times)- England bowler Ollie Robinson took a wicket with the first ball of the match as his double strike left Pakistan reeling before rain stopped play in the first Test at Headingley on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Robinson celebrated his recall in style in England\u2019s first Test since the exits of Ben Stokes, their former captain, and Brendon McCullum, sacked as red-ball coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the time rain halted play after 50 minutes, Pakistan \u2014&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2021103\">without<\/a>&nbsp;injured captain Babar Azam for the start of the three-Test series \u2014 were stumbling at 23-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Imam-ul-Haq was five not out and Abdullah Shafique unbeaten on 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Robinson had figures of 2-12 in five overs, with the umpires later announcing lunch would be taken 30 minutes early at 12:30pm (4:30pm PKT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joe Root, in his second stint as full-time England captain, explained his decision to field first after winning the toss by saying: \u201cWe feel there\u2019s some overheads to work with, and a bit of top moisture that our lads can exploit.\u201d But not even Root, all-rounder Stokes\u2019s predecessor as skipper, could have forecast what happened next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Robinson, recalled in place of off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, was on target with the first ball of the match, trapping left-hander Azan Awais lbw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Awais reviewed but umpire Chris Gaffaney\u2019s decision was upheld, with replays indicating the ball would have hit the top of middle stump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was a fine way for the 32-year-old Robinson to take his 500th first-class wicket at an impressively low average of 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shan Masood had managed just five when he too fell lbw to Robinson, bowling over the wicket at the left-hander and moving the ball back into the batsman\u2019s pads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shafique drove Gus Atkinson for four before he survived a confident caught behind appeal, with umpire Allahuddien Paleker correctly ruling the rising ball had flicked the batsman\u2019s leg instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistan, bidding for their first series win in England in 30 years, suffered a setback before the three-match contest when captain Babar Azam was ruled out with a hand injury.Pakistan\u2019s Salman Ali Agha reacts after the toss on the opening day of the first test match between England and Pakistan at Headingley cricket ground in Leeds, northern England on August 19, 2026. \u2014AFP<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All-rounder Salman Ali Agha leads Pakistan for the first time in a Test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Top-order batsman Shan Masood has been passed fit, with Saud Shakeel returning to the side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was last minute I find out I\u2019m captaining,\u201d said Agha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBabar\u2019s absence is unfortunate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve been playing a lot of red-ball cricket. We\u2019re well prepared,\u201d he added, with England, by contrast, coming into this game following several weeks of the limited-overs Hundred domestic competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the first match of Root\u2019s second stint as full-time England Test captain following former skipper Ben Stokes\u2019&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2011573\">retirement<\/a>&nbsp;from all international cricket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">England are also without the other architect of their aggressive \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2021095\">Bazball<\/a>\u2019 approach to red-ball cricket after Brendon McCullum was sacked as Test coach following a 2-1 series loss against New Zealand in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The hosts, who have won just two of their last 10 Tests, made three changes to their side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jordan Cox replaced the injured Jacob Bethell at number three, and Dan Lawrence filled the gap in the middle order left by Stokes at number six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Playing for Pakistan are Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafiq, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), Salman Ali Agha (capt), Ali Usman, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Abbas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The England lineup consists of Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox, Joe Root (capt), Harry Brook, Dan Lawrence, Jamie Smith (wkt), Gus Atkinson, Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leeds,England(National Times)- England bowler Ollie Robinson took a wicket with the first ball of the match as his double strike left Pakistan reeling before rain stopped play in the first Test at Headingley on Wednesday. Robinson celebrated his recall in style in England\u2019s first Test since the exits of Ben Stokes, their former captain, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Robinson double rocks Pakistan in first Test before rain stops play - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Robinson double rocks Pakistan in first Test before rain stops play - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leeds,England(National Times)- England bowler Ollie Robinson took a wicket with the first ball of the match as his double strike left Pakistan reeling before rain stopped play in the first Test at Headingley on Wednesday. Robinson celebrated his recall in style in England\u2019s first Test since the exits of Ben Stokes, their former captain, and [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-19T14:33:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-19T14:33:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-15-6.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/\",\"name\":\"Robinson double rocks Pakistan in first Test before rain stops play - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-15-6.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-19T14:33:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-19T14:33:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-15-6.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-15-6.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Robinson double rocks Pakistan in first Test before rain stops play\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Robinson double rocks Pakistan in first Test before rain stops play - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Robinson double rocks Pakistan in first Test before rain stops play - Nation","og_description":"Leeds,England(National Times)- England bowler Ollie Robinson took a wicket with the first ball of the match as his double strike left Pakistan reeling before rain stopped play in the first Test at Headingley on Wednesday. Robinson celebrated his recall in style in England\u2019s first Test since the exits of Ben Stokes, their former captain, and [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/","og_site_name":"Nation","article_published_time":"2026-08-19T14:33:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-19T14:33:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-15-6.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"humza Jahangir","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"humza Jahangir","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/","name":"Robinson double rocks Pakistan in first Test before rain stops play - Nation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-15-6.png","datePublished":"2026-08-19T14:33:17+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-19T14:33:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-15-6.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-15-6.png","width":670,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131512\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Robinson double rocks Pakistan in first Test before rain stops play"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/","name":"Nation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16","name":"humza Jahangir","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"humza Jahangir"},"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131514,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131512\/revisions\/131514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}