England continued to dominate Pakistan in the Test series with another strong performance on the opening day of the third Test on Wednesday, September 9, at Edgbaston, Birmingham. They ended the day with a 23-run lead in the first innings after bowling out the visiting team cheaply.
English skipper Joe Root won the toss and opted to bowl first. Josh Tongue (4 wickets), Jofra Archer (3 wickets), and Ollie Robinson (3 wickets) justified the captain’s decision by bundling out Pakistan for 133 in just 33.5 overs with magnificent spells. Only Saud Shakeel (43) and Mohammad Abbas (21) showed some fight for the Asian team with the bat, while others failed miserably.
Harry Brook (52*) and Emilio Gay (60) then hit half-centuries to help England reach 156/4 at stumps and take a lead. Fans enjoyed the action on the first day of the third Test and expressed their reactions by sharing memes on social media. Here are some of the best memes on X:
“Mike Hesson must be thinking whether his job will survive till the 2nd Innings or not,” a fan wrote.
“I thought we all bowled really well”- England pacer Josh Tongue after day 1 of ENG vs PAK 2026 3rd Test
Speaking after the conclusion of play on Day One, English pacer Josh Tongue reflected on his team’s bowling performance, saying (via Cricbuzz):
“Obviously winning the toss, bowling on a decent-looking pitch, and to bowl them out cheaply, I thought we all bowled really well. There’s probably a tiny bit of pressure on us to make sure we put the balls in the right areas, and I thought how we started today with Robbo and Joff, getting them four down quick before myself coming on and Gus. But yeah, I thought as a collective we’ve been very good the whole series, and that showed today again.”
Tongue continued:
“I’ve been sort of working on some in the nets this week, a bit more of a wobble, and that sort of came out nice. So it’s just obviously where your fingers are on the ball, like pressure releases, and it’s just trial and error really in the nets, and I was at the top of my mark. Obviously, Shakeel was coming pretty hard at us as well, and I was like, why not? I’ll try it, and then it cut me a wicket. So I’ll be definitely using that again.”
Do you think Pakistan can make a comeback in the third Test? Let us know your opinions in the comments section
Edited by Balakrishna
